A YouTube creator has put popular high street food chains to the test, attempting to live for a full week on discounted surplus bags from the anti-food waste app Too Good To Go.
The Challenge: A Week of Surprise Bags
Ed Chapman, a content creator, set himself a unique challenge in January 2026. His mission was to see if he could sustain himself solely using the Too Good To Go app, which sells leftover food from cafes and shops at a fraction of the price. Launched in 2016, the app aims to tackle the global food waste problem.
Ed planned to continue his experiment until he either ran out of local participating stores or had to admit defeat due to becoming "nutritionally deficient". He documented his week-long food journey in Leeds, sampling bags from several major chains.
Greggs, Pret and Costa: A Mixed Bag of Results
His first stop was bakery giant Greggs, where a bag costing just £2.99 delivered a shock. "I was not expecting as much as this," Ed remarked, finding his haul crammed with two sausage and cheese melts, two cheese and onion bakes, and four sausage rolls. While he admitted "the gob likes" the offering, he felt it was simply too much food for one person, ironically worrying he might add to waste.
Next, a £4 bag from Pret A Manger contained soup, an avocado and tomato sandwich, and a tuna baguette – items he valued at around £12. He found this offering "slightly underwhelming" compared to Greggs but noted it provided better variety and would be a solid lunch option for office workers.
The experience at Costa Coffee proved less impressive for value. Paying £3.50 for a bag advertised with an £11 value, he received two red velvet cakes and two toasties. Ed questioned the stated worth, calling the bag "a bit disappointing" despite the cakes looking appealing.
The Final Verdict on Fighting Food Waste
Over four days, Ed also tried surplus pizza from Pollini's Pizza in Leeds and breakfast items from a Holiday Inn before concluding his challenge at coffee chain Leon. Reflecting on the week, he gave a balanced assessment.
"This is alright as a thing to do every now and again," he said, acknowledging that some places offer far better value than others. His ultimate takeaway highlighted a practical limitation of the app for daily use: "sometimes you need proper hot food."
The experiment revealed the unpredictable nature of the surprise bags, with massive differences in quantity, quality, and perceived value between different retailers on the same platform.
