This job has allowed me to eat from some of the most elaborate (and priciest) tasting menus in the city. Many are 10 courses or more and paired with cocktails, wine, or sake. Often, these meals are more than I can consume in one sitting, and some remnants inevitably go to waste. (Admissions like this reek of privilege, I know. Stay with me.) While I’m getting overserved at restaurants, millions of people don’t know where their next meal is coming from—and not just those on food stamps. What about the broke college student or the single parent who can barely afford groceries every week? What about families who simply can’t afford to eat out anymore?
The world produces enough food to feed 1.5 times the current population, according to the Committee on World Food Security—yet 40% goes uneaten. Orders come out wrong, pastry cases don’t all sell out, and DoorDash orders aren’t always picked up. The last thing a small, independent restaurant owner wants to do is waste a hot meal. So how do we close that gap between the hungry and the overserved and make sure that unsold food gets eaten?
Enter Goodie Bag, a platform that aims to reduce food waste as it supports local, small businesses. It was founded by two recent graduates and a college professor from the University of Colorado Boulder. Briana Boehmer was teaching an entrepreneurship course in the summer of 2022, and Luke Siegert and Eddy Connors placed first in the startup program’s pitch competition. Boehmer, who’s spent almost two decades in the startup world, wanted to back their idea. Since Goodie Bag launched in January 2023, they’ve diverted more than 6,700 meals from the landfill. They’re also helping a demographic they know well. Food insecurity affects 1 in 3 college students in America.
Boehmer reached out to me after the holidays—and the morning after an especially indulgent media dinner—so her pitch hit me where I live. Goodie Bag allows consumers to purchase unsold food from local eateries at a discount of 50% or more. A restaurant can promote its excess food on Goodie Bag’s app, which features a brief description of the eatery and an idea of what to expect in its Mystery Bags. “So, a bakery in Fort Collins that sells baked goods and lunch items could list a small bag for $3 and a big bag for $6,” Boehmer says. “In that big bag, I got meat pie, two high-end pastries, and a croissant. It was probably worth $25. The only caveat is you have to go pick it up—but then there’s no delivery fee.”
After its success in Denver, Goodie Bag launched in Charlotte in February. “We did some market research and looked for places that don’t have a service like this at all, with communities that would be receptive to it,” she says. “Charlotte is a big up-and-coming food city, and we felt like it was a community focused on community, which we are, too.”
Several team members were in town for their launch, but now they run the app virtually. As of February, they had commitments from Oh My Soul, Poppy’s Bagels, The Batch House, Benny Ferrovia’s, Your Mom’s Donuts, and others. By the time you read this, they’ll have even more. Curbing food insecurity is just part of their goal, though. They’re in this to help counteract climate change, too. “On average, a pound of wasted food emits 3.8 pounds of greenhouse gasses,” Siegert says.
“It’s not just about the end product, but about the harvesting, growing, transportation, preparation, and storage,” Connors adds. “When you waste that end product, you waste all of the resources, too.”
Vendors participate for free and get two-thirds of every sale; Goodie Bag gets the other third and covers the transaction fee. “So, you might get day-old, refrigerated pizza instead of hot,” Siegert says, “but we still abide by local legislation, standard shelf life, and window of sale.” He stresses that Goodie Bag meets all applicable health and safety standards, and they’re careful about foods that spoil quickly.
Despite launching in a college town and building a customer base of students, they recognize how many sectors of the population need more affordable food options. It’s why they’ve expanded to Charlotte and Phoenix and plan to target even more cities. “People’s understanding of food insecurity comes with an inherent negative connotation,” Connors says. “We’re trying to take away that stigma. Most people in the U.S. are budgeting on food. We’re not just targeting those on food stamps. We’re trying to create the narrative that it’s financially savvy to not spend $25 on a meal you could get for less than $10.”
TAYLOR BOWLER is the lifestyle editor.
Taylor Bowler
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