1. Introduction
One third of all food produced in the world is wasted (FAO n.d.). This
means that countries lose huge amounts of income each year, summing up to
1,2 trillion USD in losses each year around the world. (Fast Company n.d.) This,
furthermore, poses another immense threat, and that is the threat to the
environment. Considering this huge economical and environmental threat, it is
no wonder that the awareness about food waste is rising, and that more and
more companies are being created just for the main purpose of fighting this
issue.
Too Good To Go is one of these companies. It was created with the aim of
fighting food waste, while reducing CO2 emissions, as food waste is a significant
cause of these emissions. The company has been in operation since the
beginning of 2016. Starting from Denmark a couple of years ago, the company
now operates in 9 countries around Europe. (Too Good To Go, 2016) Too Good
To Go’s business achieves a triple-win result. Stores, restaurants, bakeries, etc.
benefit from selling the excess of food; customers get meals at greatly reduced
prices; and the environment wins from reducing not only food waste, but also
CO2 emissions. The company’s vision is to create a world where produced food
equals consumed food. (Too Good To Go, 2016) Because of this ability to achieve
a triple-win result, and because of their strong company vision, Too Good To Go
is constantly growing, reaching out to new businesses and users, and saving
meals in the process (Too Good To Go, 2016). However, Too Good To Go’s app is
now used mostly by women, that live in cities and are over the age of 30, and this
limits their ability of further progress.
The purpose of this report is to develop a marketing plan to help Too Good
To Go reach the younger audience. In order to do so, the authors will make an
analysis of the external market environment and Too Good To Go’s internal data,
with the goal of creating a more appealing look for Too Good To Go. Considering
this purpose, the following problem formulation was created:
“How can Too Good To Go develop a concept that can communicate the
fight against food waste in a way that is interesting to the younger target
group?”
In order to come up with the concept, the following topics need to be
researched:
➢
How can we obtain a better understanding of the company and the market they
operate in?
➢
What are the main problems identified?
➢
How can we tackle the problems?
➢
How can we reach the target group?
1.1 Delimitations
In order to reach a deeper understanding of the project, the field of
research had to be narrowed down to a specific geographical area; the focus is
on the Danish market, despite the fact that the company operates in nine
countries, as full coverage would be beyond the scope of this paper. The main
delimitation is the target group – as mentioned before, the requirement of this
project is to analyze the younger customer segment of people between 18-29
years, especially men. As a result, the paper does not cover the wider perspective
of the whole segment.
1.2 Methodology
Various academic publications, articles, methods, and tools have been used
to cover the analysis of Too Good To Go’s actual position on the market. The data
from Too Good To Go’s survey was used as our primary source in selecting the
target group. The goal was to find patterns that can lead to profitable customers
and create our persona based on the information analyzed.
In chapter 2, Edgar Schein’s culture analysis theory was used, in order to
gain access to the unseen part of the company. Next, the PESTLE analysis has
been employed as a secondary source of data needed for achieving an
understanding of the macro-environmental factors. In the same area, research
into Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) helped in achieving a holistic
understanding of the external factors.
To gather information about the internal factors within the company, data
received from an interview with Nicoline Rasmussen and Carl-Emil Jensen from
the company was used, as well as data from a Q&A session with them.
In chapters 3 and 4, S.W.O.T. and T.O.W.S. analyses were used to compress
all of the data into a more comprehensive picture.
2. CSR
Business organisations were created as economic entities designed to
provide goods and services. Profit was established as the primary incentive for
entrepreneurship. (A.B. Carroll,1991)
Today, in building a socially responsible business, it is possible to undertake
socially responsible initiatives to construct win situations. Many companies are
prioritizing corporate social responsibility to implement social changes within the
business beliefs, practices, and profits. (Caramela, 2018)
The overall aim is to achieve a positive impact on society as a whole, while
maximizing the creation of shared value for the owners of the business, its
employees, shareholders, and stakeholders. (Tennant, 2015)
The International Organization for Standardization describes CSR as a balanced
approach for organizations to address economic, social, and environmental
issues to benefit people, communities, and society. (McAdam and Leonard,
2003)
Too Good To Go reduces food waste by connecting a variety of food suppliers
like restaurants and bakeries with customers who are willing to buy a meal for a
reduced price at the end of the business day. Food waste in numbers equals to
1,3 billion tons, and the phenomenon is increasing. In this way, leftovers from
buffets and bakeries will generate money for the owners and food is saved from
the waste bin, creating a win-win situation.
When it comes to Too Good To Go, the company’s legal, economic,
philanthropic, and ethical responsibilities can be analyzed.
2.1 Ethical
When it comes to the ethical responsibilities, Too Good To Go performs in
accordance with the expectations of the societal mores and ethical norms.
According to their Terms and Conditions, the company has the responsibility to
raise awareness of food waste by making surplus food available to the stores.
(Too good to go) Sometimes it is important to prevent ethical norms from being
compromised in order to achieve corporate goals. This happens for example,
when talking about the perfectly good fruit and vegetables that are discarded
because they don’t live up to the beauty standards. This may compromise the
achievement of the goal because it increases the amount of food waste. (ibid)
2.2 Legal
As for the legal responsibility, the company complies with the laws of the
European Union, and the respective laws of the countries it operates in. Within
the Terms and Conditions, it is possible to identify agreements that are made
between the buyer and the merchant (restaurants, bakeries), and laws related to the
right of cancellation and compliance.
2.3 Economic
Next, from the economic point of view, the company is consistent in
maximizing profits. The company sells good food for a lower price, and they are
always trying to achieve profitability in the long run and to stay strong on the
market. Moreover, the company has many customers that make dealing with
money and the loss of food and energy a serious concern of theirs.
2.4 Philanthropic
From a philanthropic point of view, the company tries to raise awareness
through people doing public campaigns, by creating guidelines, and by talking
about the matter, and many people like to volunteer in an active way.
3. Culture analysis
In this chapter the cultural aspect will be analyzed, and in order to
accomplish that, Edgars Schein’s cultural model will be used.
The concept of organizational culture is very abstract, and therefore difficult
to understand. However, in the 80’s, a professor named E. Schein had developed
a model to make organizational culture visible to everyone. “There are direct and
indirect mechanisms within organizations. The organizational culture model is
directly influenced by direct mechanisms. This includes exemplary behavior,
opinions, status, and appointments. Indirect mechanisms do not influence the
organizational culture directly, however they are determinative. This includes the
mission and vision statement of a company, formal guidelines, corporate
identity, rituals, and design.” (Schein, 1984) . As is illustrated in Figure 1, it is only
possible to see the top of the iceberg, but the foundation, the most important
part, is invisible to the public.
Figure 1: Schein’s Iceberg Model of Culture
3.1 Artifacts and symbols
Too Good To Go was created as a startup company in January of 2016, having
grown exponentially by the end of 2017, and still expanding into more European
countries today. Being a new company that emerged on the market, the
organization does not have a rich history behind it, meaning that Too Good To
Go’s current business strategy can’t be compared to any previous ones, but the
concept itself on which the company was created does have a long history and
tradition behind it, so their customers and partners can feel an approach from
the company that is based on the concept of minimizing food waste.
According to Too Good To Go website, they explain their choice of logo: “My
goal was to create something that not only represented our brand, but also
communicated what Too Good To Go means for the members of our community.
We wanted to take the best of the old and turn it into something fresher, cleaner,
and more flexible.” (Carl-Emil, 2018) The logo has 3 symbols, one is the leaf that
represents the earth and sustainability, their core value. Another interpretation
is the heart, that comes from the passion of their community and the love for
food. The last dimension symbolizes the number 3, that shows the win-win-win
concept for the planet, the users, and the company’s partners.
Being an international organization, the company’s language is English, as is
stated on their website in the available jobs section. Nevertheless, our focus is
based on the Danish market, and the language that is used for internal
communication is Danish. (Too Good To Go, no date)
3.2 Values
Too Good To God’s mission is to reduce food waste globally. As is stated on
their website, more than 1/3 of the total food produced is wasted. Their vision is
a world where the food is eaten and not thrown away. When having waste
reduction as the main value, everyone can align with it. When a customer buys a
food package from the company, not only does he/she get some delicious food
at a bargain, but he/she also contributes to the global waste reduction at the
same time. Too Good To Go calls this situation a win-win-win. One of the
organization’s missions is to inspire and empower everyone to take action
against food waste. The organization’s employees are embedded within the
company’s values, and they are very proud of the fact that they can make a
difference by raising awareness and educating people, being promoters for a
better world. (Too Good To Go presentation)
3.3 Basic assumptions
Analyzing the relationship with the outside world, we can see that Too Good
To Go is perceived as a green company, one that can relate to every one of us.
People are being more and more conscious and aware of the problems of this
world. Many of us in the developed world take for granted the fact that more
food is available in every supermarket than ever before, and that it is not a
scarce resource at the moment. In other corners of the world however, the
