New podcast episode from Teller statt Tonne

🎙️Es It's that time again: a new episode of our podcast Teller statt Tonne is now available! 🤗

🥒🥕In our last episode, we looked at the problem of sorting out and throwing away food that isn't perfect - a topic we want to pay more attention to. That's why, in our latest episode, we talk to a guest who also deals with this topic.

Nicole Klaski is the managing director of THE GOOD FOOD, a store that enables everyone to save food through their purchases: according to the "pay what it's worth to you" principle. 💪 Nicole started at markets at the end of 2014 and opened her first store in 2017. She now runs three locations in Cologne.

Listen in now and find out how discarded but still edible and good food finds its way onto our plates instead of into the garbage can!
👉 Spotify
👉 Apple Podcast

We are looking forward to your feedback and whether you have already done your shopping at one of Nicole's locations or whether you plan to stop by soon!

If you want to know exactly what the episode is about:

Nicole is the founder and managing director of The Good Food, a store where you can save food with your purchases. Started at market stalls at the end of 2014, the first store was opened in Cologne in 2017, and there are now three, so we're delighted to find out the background to The Good Food today. 

Nicole thinks that the beginnings of The Good Food came about when she noticed how incredibly much food is wasted. She made this observation in the supermarket garbage cans. She went container shopping and noticed that really tasty food ended up in the garbage can even though it didn't belong there. She was very annoyed about this, because when food is thrown away, the resources that went into its production are also wasted. Water has to be used for plants to grow and bear fruit, as well as labour, fertilizer and energy - all of which is thrown away. 

This gave her the idea of wanting to save food. At first, she volunteered at Foodsharing and at some point realized: "Wow, there's an association here that stands behind Foodsharing." She got involved there and later took over the management of Foodsharing. She discovered that there are sources of food waste throughout Germany that can no longer be covered by food sharing because food is thrown away by the truckload, i.e. by the pallet. However, a small buffer of money is needed to send a truck somewhere, pick up the pallets and pay for a warehouse. In this way, food could be saved on a larger scale if you have some money. 

When you volunteer, it's great that you invest your time and commitment, but it's not absolutely necessary to also spend money on fuel costs or the like. That's why she thought she had to start something new so that this food could also be saved. And so The Good Food was born. 

How did the name come about?

Nicole initially won a scholarship, the Social Impact Scholarship, where she became friends with Anja. Anja helped her with the design and finding a name. One day, she had a flash of inspiration: "Yes, good food is exactly what I want to communicate." Even food that has passed its best-before date or fruit and vegetables that grow crookedly are still good food. They originally wanted a German name, but ultimately decided on an English name. This is how "The Good Food" came about. 

The concept has several levels. "Good food" can mean both high-quality food in the restaurant and the question of whether the food is still good once it has passed its best-before date. 

There are several people behind The Good Food. At the beginning, Nicole worked together with Ines, whom she knew from the Foodsharing board. Both wanted to achieve more and worked on the theory of founding The Good Food. Nicole then continued the project on her own, but with the support of two other committed people. 

They started with a market stall and cooperated with Lammertshof, a farm whose owner, Heinrich Hannen, gave them a chance. Heinrich Hannen is a very committed farmer who is also involved in other projects and demonstrations. He organized post-harvest events where interested parties could see what food was left in the fields and not sold. Of course, this should only be done if it is organized by him. Not just collecting potatoes because you know Lammershof. That wouldn't be so cool.

Nicole started driving there once a week in her aunt's car, a small car, and loading it up. She then set up her own market stall at the Weltempfänger in Cologne on Venloerstraße. The operator allowed her to use the outside catering as they didn't need it. She set up the stall there and watched what happened. The interest was huge. People wanted to know what it was all about, why the potatoes perhaps looked slightly different to those in regular shops and what the story behind them was. She offered the food on a "pay what it's worth" basis because she also needed money to give her aunt gas money. The money collected was directly reinvested in the next trip. 

The project gradually developed from a market stall into a real store. She read in a newsletter that a small store in Ehrenfeld was going on summer break and asked if they could use the store for two months. The owner, Christel, was keen and they agreed a monthly rent for two months. This allowed them to try out what it would be like to run a supermarket for the first time in closed premises. 

The market stall was initially a great solution, as they were present on the street and people could see them. But being able to use the store during the summer break was an important opportunity to sell the knobbly potatoes in a store. It worked so well that they were able to pay the rent. 

They also developed a system where they rented out shelves to other small businesses that didn't have a chance to showcase themselves. This allowed them to cover part of the rent and minimize the risk. This resulted in the first pop-up store, which was followed by three more. 

In February 2017, they opened their first permanent store at Venloerstraße 414. A nice couple had offered her this store, and although she was skeptical at first, she finally decided to go for it and fell in love with it. This store is still the heart and home base of The Good Food. 

They always started small and invested what they had earned in the next step. She never wanted to involve investors. She turned down all offers and wanted to keep the project independent. Part of her philosophy is to use existing resources, such as empty stores and second-hand furniture, instead of buying new things. This philosophy also runs through her private life.  

Which products are marketed? 

Crooked fruit and vegetables, as they say, are sometimes not so crooked at all. It's not always easy to find the crooked cucumber at The Good Food. Sometimes Nicole looks at the fruit and vegetables and wonders why they were sorted out in the first place, as there is often no obvious reason. Sometimes the products have rough edges, but often it is a case of overproduction. You can't tell by looking at the produce why it was rejected. It not only has crooked vegetables, but also baked goods from the day before and food that is past its best-before date. This could be anything: popcorn, nacho chips, corn, pasta or tea. For a while, they had an incredible amount of tea. Anything with a best-before date on it, which in Germany is the case on almost every product except wine. 

How do these products get to The Good Food?

They have various partnerships with manufacturers across Germany who donate the food to them. When it is signaled that something is available again, they either use the manufacturer's shipping company or commission their own.

They now have 170 volunteers and 4 employees. The Good Food has not only grown in terms of the number of stores, but also in terms of the people who want to get involved. They have become a kind of social start-up that offers people a meaningful task in their everyday lives. Many pensioners and students get involved because they see that their work has a direct effect: rescued food that doesn't rot or get left lying around in the fields. That gives them a good feeling. 

If anyone would like to go on a farm tour, i.e. go to the farm and sort or harvest vegetables themselves, they can join Leonie's team. You should be physically fit for this, as it is hard work and you have to plan around five hours per tour. They now drive four times a week in their own van, which they bought last year, although she didn't want to for a long time. The Ford Transit is always full of fruit and vegetables. There are usually three people on the trips and they drive on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Anyone who has time at the weekend can go on a cargo bike tour to deliver to the stores. They try to make these deliveries CO₂-neutral. 

In Ehrenfeld, where their warehouse is located, they have an audience that is open to their product range. Nevertheless, there are also people who want to take advantage of the system and buy cheap. They have retained the principle of "pay what it's worth to you", except for drinks, where they have introduced a minimum price to prevent abuse and cover costs. Their concept aims to increase the appreciation of food. She wants people to think about what food is worth to them. This stimulates a process that helps to raise awareness. 

Harvesting their own produce is an important part of their concept, as an incredible amount of fruit and vegetables is wasted in agriculture. They have already rescued 4000 mangoes and avocados and quickly brought them to people through social media. This prevents these foods, which have used up a lot of resources, from simply ending up in the garbage can.  

We've already talked about Valentin Thurn before, so let's come back to that: He is the filmmaker of the documentary "Taste The Waste" and was already present as a guest. He is considered a central figure in this movement, especially as he is also a co-founder of Foodsharing. 

Food sharing works very locally. People get involved and travel to supermarkets, often by bike and backpack, to rescue food that would otherwise be thrown away. This rescued food is then made available for collection in distribution centers so that private individuals can take it for free. However, when it comes to larger quantities, such as pallets, the question arises as to whether the company will cover the logistics costs. Foodsharing can only cope with larger quantities with difficulty, as distribution has to take place quickly. Despite good organization, it remains difficult to operate on a large scale, especially if companies do not want to cover logistics costs. 

In contrast, our own concept starts one step earlier, directly at the producer and on the farm. Post-harvest campaigns are organized, which are time-consuming, a task that neither the food bank nor food sharing can perform to this extent. This professionalization and pre-positioning of the process are special features of the company's own approach. 

It all started with the Lammertshof. New suppliers and sources were acquired by visiting trade fairs and events, such as Anuga. Local networks and co-working spaces such as the "Co Labor" in Cologne, a place for sustainable companies, also played an important role. These places offer opportunities to make contacts and build networks, which has convinced more and more manufacturers of the idea. Events such as the "Marktschwärmerei" in the "Co Labor" also promote direct contact with farmers and support the expansion of the network. 

This means that they have a fixed network of partners or suppliers with whom they work. However, this network is constantly changing. For example, some bakeries have realized how much bread and rolls they are throwing away and are trying to produce less. There are also new players in the market, such as Too Good To Go, with whom they work, or they decide that Foodsharing will take over certain pick-ups. 

It would be ideal if the bakeries could one day work with them to reduce food waste. Nevertheless, there is still enough surplus to supply their stores. In the long term, however, they hope that the amount of wasted food will be further reduced. Their range is constantly changing, they simply take what they can get. Customers can therefore not come with a shopping list and expect everything to be available. Instead, customers look at what is available and then plan their meals accordingly. 

Of course, there are also requests from customers, for example for pasta, but they only take what would otherwise be thrown away. Legally, selling products that are past their best-before date is not a problem. Initially, customers were more skeptical, but that has changed over time. They do a lot of educational work and are now celebrating their seventh anniversary, which shows that awareness of food waste has increased. 

In terms of customers, there are differences in how intensively people engage with the topic, depending on their level of education and circumstances. There are still a few people who are skeptical, but this has become less common. 

Politicians are also taking steps to raise awareness. They hope that there will be more measures to reduce food waste instead of just legalizing containers. 

They are also pursuing the idea of changing or abolishing the best-before date, as many products are still good after this date. The aim is to sensitize people to rely on their own senses to judge the freshness of food. 

Their organization, which is based in Cologne, has considered expanding to other cities, but the logistics are a challenge. Therefore, they believe that local activities are more effective. However, there are similar stores in other cities with which they have formed a network. 

They have tried to record the amount of food rescued, but this is difficult as fruit and vegetables vary in weight. Their vans have a capacity of 1.3 tons and they rescue about 4 van loads per week. This equates to about 4 tons of fruit and vegetables per week, plus expired goods. Food that is no longer good is either passed on to Foodsharing or used as compost. Moldy or spoiled fruit and vegetables go into the organic waste garbage can. 

Their organization is a non-profit entrepreneurial company (gUG), which allows them to employ volunteers. These volunteers are essential to the operation, as otherwise they would not be able to cope with the amount of work. The gUG legal form allows them to start without much funding, and the non-profit status underlines their environmental protection ethos. The challenge is to find a balance between putting money aside and being a non-profit organization. 

Volunteers come to them through referrals, volunteer agencies and media attention. The press is well-disposed towards them, which helps them to stay known and find new volunteers.