An M&S Too Good To Go bakery Surprise Bag priced at £3.80 was found to contain six items with a total retail value of £12.25, saving the purchaser £8.45. The haul included a Tiger Baguette, a Ciabatta Loaf, a Raspberry and Madagascan Custard Tear Drop, a Pain Au Chocolat, a Birthday Yumnut and a Chunked N' Loaded Pistachio Cookie.
How the Surprise Bag works
M&S has partnered with Too Good To Go to offer Surprise Bags containing surplus bakery products through the app. Each bag costs £3.80 and is guaranteed to contain at least £10.20 worth of food. The bags are available at more than 350 M&S Food stores across the UK and Ireland.
The bag was reserved through the app, with notifications enabled to avoid missing out, and collected from a local store between 8pm and 9pm. The bags were already laid out on arrival, and the baker said he had been "very generous" with the selection.
Contents and value
The items included a Tiger Baguette retailing at £1.60, a Ciabatta Loaf worth £2.40, a Raspberry and Madagascan Custard Tear Drop valued at £2.80, a Pain Au Chocolat at £1.40, a Birthday Yumnut at £1.95 and a Chunked N' Loaded Pistachio Cookie at £2.10. The Birthday Yumnut was described as the shopper's favourite M&S bakery treat.
The £3.80 bag delivered £12.25 worth of products, saving £8.45, which is more than three times the price paid. The contents lasted several days despite being surplus food intended to prevent waste.
Considerations and verdict
The contents vary depending on what is left in each store, so there is no guarantee of receiving the same items. The collection time of 8pm to 9pm was noted as a small inconvenience, particularly for those whose nearest store is not convenient to reach.
M&S has pledged to halve food waste by 2030 and has helped redistribute more than 57,000 tonnes of surplus food, equivalent to over 130 million meals donated to charities. Too Good To Go connects customers with businesses that have surplus food available to rescue through its app.
