Marks & Spencer introduced the M&S Bakery Surprise Bag, a grab-and-go bakery pack offered through Too Good To Go that lets shoppers reserve and pick up a surprise selection of bakery items via the app. The offering is presented as a surprise bag of iconic treats and is positioned to move bakery items at the end of the day.
The bag is available from over 350 in-store bakeries and is part of M&S’s Plan A mission to reduce food waste. Shoppers reserve a bag on the app and collect it in store, with availability described as limited to what remains that day.
For consumers this creates an urgent, convenience-forward way to take home bakery goods while helping cut waste. The pairing of an established retailer with a food-rescue platform highlights a practical route to curb surplus bakery inventory and support sustainability goals.
Image Credit: M&S
Key Themes Behind This Trend
- App-reserved Surplus
- Mobile reservations for unsold food create new value from perishable inventory while giving consumers a convenient, time-sensitive way to access discounted products.
- Surprise-driven Value
- Mystery assortments add excitement to routine grocery purchases and help retailers repackage excess stock as a discovery-based customer experience.
- Retail Food Rescue
- Partnerships between grocers and food-waste platforms turn sustainability goals into practical customer-facing services with measurable inventory benefits.
Where This Applies
- Grocery Retail
- Supermarkets can use digital surplus programs to reduce shrink, improve end-of-day sell-through, and strengthen sustainability positioning.
- Bakery
- Fresh bakery operators gain a flexible channel for monetizing unpredictable leftovers without undermining full-price daytime sales.
- Foodtech
- App-based marketplaces that connect surplus food supply with nearby demand are expanding the role of software in waste reduction and local commerce.
