71 Too Good To Go in France

Team 78 Poster

Team Reflection

Too Good To Go, a certified B corporation on a mission to inspire and empower everyone to fight food waste together, exemplifies the Lang School of Business’ philosophy of using business as a force for good. The company operates the world’s largest marketplace for surplus food, connecting businesses with consumers to prevent quality food from being disposed of. Throughout this reflection, we will examine the company’s business model, its impact on the environment and society, and its potential to shift the mindset of consumers towards more sustainable habits.

What: Too Good To Go’s Business Model and Initial Observations

Their innovative business model utilizes technology to address the food waste crisis. Specifically, the app connects consumers with businesses with food surplus, selling this food at reduced prices through the Too Good To Go app. According to their website, they operate on a win-win-win business model for people (good food at value for money), profit (unlocking revenue from surplus), and the planet (empowering people and partners to help protect the environment) (Too Good To Go, n.d.). Before conducting the interview, we were already active users of the app, having purchased the “Surprise Bags” from their business partners, like Metro in Guelph. In our interview with Nicolas, the Public Relations Manager for Too Good To Go, we learned about their other offerings such as “Parcels” and their “Platform” which provide solutions to companies across the supply chain to minimise waste. The World Economic Forum emphasises the importance and benefit of business collaborations and cross-industry partnerships in terms of enacting corporate social responsibility, just like TGTG is doing (Quintos, 2020). Going beyond their main profit driver – Surprise Bags – the company is developing a platform for their partners to automate expiry date management and implement discount strategies to minimise waste. When Nicolas shared this information, it became even more clear how committed they are to using business for social good.

We don’t commonly see companies whose direct mission is to tackle an environmental concern, nor are such significant efforts being made to incorporate other businesses into the solution. TGTG’s mutual-benefit business model is unique and encourages us to take on a new perspective of corporate social responsibility. CSR isn’t just the sole responsibility of an organisation to ensure their practices align with ethics and environmental standards, but a newfound responsibility to collectively share resources to uplift the practices of other companies.

Nicolas provided us insights about their commitment to educating consumers about food waste; something that stuck with us after the interview is his statement that we must “take a collective approach to fighting food waste.” This is a global problem, proven through facts like up to 40% of food produced going to waste and it being the cause of 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide (Too Good To Go, n.d.). This crisis impacts all of us, putting the very health of our planet in jeopardy, and we must act now in service of society and our planet. With a collective approach using strategies like TGTG, we can have a large-scale improvement of food waste.

So What: Connection to Academics and Sustainability

Looking at Too Good To Go’s business and applying the triple bottom line concept, it is irrefutable that the company demonstrates significant dedication to environmental, social, and economic sustainability. Their environmental impact, as outlined above, has helped avoid 362,169 tons of CO2e emissions in 2023 alone. Socially, they not only increase access to affordable and nutritious food, they also encourage responsible consumption habits ultimately having a long-term impact on consumer behaviour. Economically, TGTG’s innovative solution provides an opportunity for its partners to recoup the costs of surplus food, which are drastically proven in the aforementioned stat.

Connecting to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which are heavily discussed in our courses such as Principles of Management, Too Good To Go directly contributes to multiple, especially SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), and SDG 13 (Climate Action).

The company’s success challenges assumptions we often hear surrounding the role of businesses in addressing sustainability, one being that legislation is the only driver. This assumption is simply wrong, proven by Nicolas and Too Good To Go’s genuine passion and concern about the food waste crisis. Nicolas’ energy towards the cause inspired us to recognize the broad impacts food waste has across the world, something we didn’t initially realize the magnitude of.

Now What: Reflecting

The company’s success is a perfect example of the power of business innovation in driving positive social and environmental changes. Completing this project has compelled us to reevaluate our consumption habits and purchasing decisions, specifically relating to food products. As aspiring business professionals, pursuing post-secondary degrees, we are inspired to seek out and support businesses that prioritise sustainability. Our technical and cultural perspectives on the issue of food waste have drastically changed after completing this research, now recognize how critical it is that we are mindful in our personal and professional actions.

Cross-Cultural and Learning Reflection

There are many benefits of cross-cultural collaborations including diverse perspectives, which bring an abundance of varying expertise inspiring creativity. In terms of this project, since food waste is a global issue, cross-cultural collaboration allows the team to obtain different global insights, enhancing the overall understanding of the issue. This type of collaboration also poses challenges such as language barriers, people from certain cultures feeling less comfortable speaking up or sharing ideas, cultural stereotypes, differences in professional communication/etiquette standards, and differing work styles and habits. We learned that these cultural challenges make it difficult to complete group projects, especially through strictly online communication. We attempted to establish communication channels through email and WhatsApp, which was effective at first but quickly dissipated; not knowing people’s situations across the world, there could have been underlying factors that challenged our team’s cohesiveness. When team members did join team meetings, taking turns speaking was effective but sustaining valuable conversation relating to the coursework was a struggle. Creating a messaging chat seemed to be the most effective form of communicating, although not all team members adopted it. An attempt to divide tasks amongst the team was made, but we had to re-evaluate and equally divide the workload when communication blocks were faced. If we were to complete a cross-cultural project like this again, more structured meeting agendas and guidelines for participation will be outlined, as well as creating a shared calendar to resolve time-zone issues, and ensuring consistent communication throughout the week. Connecting to our course,, we discussed how misunderstanding of cultural differences can lead to business failures, we also believe these misunderstandings can lead to team failures. Although there was limited communication, it is possible our understanding of different cultural work habits and learning styles led to the communication barriers we faced.

Individual Reflections

Nathanael Szubert

I was very excited and intrigued when Professor Hoong introduced the Aim2Flourish activity as a part of the International Business course. I’ve never participated in something like this and thought it would be very interesting and beneficial to work with people across the world. I made significant efforts to establish communication without international partners through email to set up SMS communication, but it was difficult to maintain consistent two-sided responses. In group meetings, it was important to allow all sides the opportunity to speak, giving ample time for them to respond and express ideas. In cases where no responses were shared, I encouraged team members to share at any point their opinion changes. In our case, working across time zones didn’t seem to be an issue as we are only a couple hours ahead/behind and follow similar class schedules. I wish I made further efforts to communicate with partner professors to see if communication issues could be remediated, but my schedule made this difficult to take on. In the future, hopefully, the Aim2Flourish activity can further connect group members, possibly providing more opportunities for professors to check in with their students and connect with the students from other universities.

Owen Stevenson

Stepping into the lecture hall during syllabus week, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this MGMT 2060 class, but when Professor Hoong started to describe the project we would be undertaking, I was excited. I was looking forward to working with like-minded students from around the world, so I was disappointed when Nate and I had difficulty connecting with them. Despite our best efforts via both email and WhatsApp, we were never able to meet with all six team members. We tried to set early meeting times, which allowed the students from all three universities were able to meet, to no avail. Although working with our whole team was a challenge, working with Nate was great. I was able to contact a company that was willing to meet with us, but when Nate was able to land Too Good To Go, we knew we had to jump on it. We had a fantastic interview with Nicolas Dot, the PR manager, and were then able to meet on campus to work together in person. We divided and conquered, working on the different deliverables, and then switched and improved each other’s work. All in all, even through the tough spots working with other students, it was a positive experience. Going forward, I wonder if there would be a way to notify professors that their students weren’t reachable. As university students, we are pretty self-sufficient and don’t rely too much on faculty to hand us our projects on a platter, but it might be nice to have some more support in simply communicating with unreachable group members.

John Cronnolly

Partaking in the Aim2Flourish activity for my management course was both challenging and enlightening. In particularly because it was my first time collaborating or doing any project internationally. I was initially excited to learn alongside students from other parts of the world. The problem I found was establishing consistent communication. It proved more challenging than I had imagined. The communication across the board required a great deal of patience, particularly due to the different response times and varying levels of engagement. Other than this thought I very much enjoyed this experience. In light of this experience, I have further realized the importance of clear expectations and structured communication in cross-cultural teamwork. This also made me realize how easily this can be translated to my workplace in the future. Communication and effective structure have a great deal to do with if a company is successful or not. I found the interview with Nicolas Dot from Too Good To Go to be a rewarding experience.  It showed me the power of business that drives social and environmental change can really be. Their innovative approach to reducing food waste really opened my eyes to how impactful a company can be when it aligns its goals with sustainable practices. This experience has inspired me to be more mindful in my own career about supporting and implementing practices that have a positive impact on the environment and society.

References

Quintos, K. (2020, January 19). Why sustainability isn’t just for Green Companies. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/2020/01/sustainability-green-companies-business-partnership/

Too Good To Go International. (n.d.). Too good to go: About us: More information. Too Good To Go | About Us | More Information. https://www.toogoodtogo.com/en-ca/about-us