Food prices continue to hit wallets across South Florida. The latest Consumer Price Index report shows food costs rose 3.1% over the past year, a trend shoppers feel at both grocery stores and restaurants. With prices climbing, food waste has become an even bigger concern.

At Vicky Bakery, fresh food is constantly moving out of the kitchen, and historically, whatever didn’t sell by day’s end had to be tossed. Items like croquetas, pastelitos, and empanadas couldn’t be saved, according to CEO George Barriere.

That changed with Too Good To Go, an app that connects customers with restaurants and grocery stores offering surplus food at steep discounts. Instead of paying $3.50 for a single empanada, customers can grab a $5.99 “surprise bag” filled with nearly $19 worth of food.

Since partnering with the app in August, one Vicky Bakery location alone has generated about $6,500 in revenue that would have otherwise ended up in the trash. In the process, the bakery has helped save 18,000 meals and prevented nearly five metric tons of carbon emissions.

For Miami creator Brennan Coker, cost savings and sustainability were the draw. With an estimated 40% of the U.S. food supply going to waste, she says the app feels like a small but meaningful way to fight both rising prices and excess.

And the impact is growing. Too Good To Go reports that in 2025, more than 320,000 meals were saved in the Miami area, a 63% increase from the year before — as grocery prices continued to rise. According to the USDA, food prices are expected to increase another 2.7% in 2026.

With many shoppers bracing for more of the same, apps that stretch dollars while cutting waste may become a regular part of the South Florida grocery game.