Goodie Bag Food Co.

Goodie Bag Food Co. operates a surplus-food marketplace that connects local food businesses with nearby consumers. Restaurants, bakeries, cafes, pizzerias, grocers and similar shops list unsold or discounted food, which customers reserve and pay for in the Goodie Bag app and then pick up at the shop. The core product is the "OG" goodie bag, a surprise assortment of unsold food whose contents are unknown to the buyer, though the source shop is disclosed; a second format, the "fresh deal" goodie bag, consists of made-to-order items that shops themselves select to offer at a discount.

Pricing is set well below retail, described as up to 80% off in the app listing and typically at least 50% off in press coverage, with bag prices averaging roughly $5 to $8 in 2024; earlier Boulder listings ranged from about $3 for a small bag to $6 for a large one. Listings are first-come, first-served and, according to the founders, most sell out in under a minute, so the app centers on push notifications: users can set alert intensity, daily notification caps, time windows and days of the week, and can filter by vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free and gluten-free preferences. Additional consumer features include favoriting shops, order tracking, saved locations, reviews with photos, achievements and rewards, and a referral program granting $1 in credits to both the referrer and the new user. A partner-side interface lets shops manage quick-add items, banners, food images, categories and shop-page ratings.

The company positions the service as addressing both food waste and food affordability, partnering exclusively with local businesses rather than chains.

Founding story

Eddy Connors attended the University of Colorado Boulder's Leeds School of Business, graduating in 2021 with a BS in Business focused on Strategy and Entrepreneurship plus a certificate in Social Responsibility and Ethics, after an earlier venture, the recycled-ocean-plastic apparel brand BerBeda, which he put on hold. In summer 2022 he enrolled in the 10-week Silicon Flatirons Startup Summer Program with his roommate and fraternity brother Luke Siegert, where they met Ethan Mills, a high school friend of Siegert's. The three bonded over a shared interest in eliminating food waste and, drawing on their own experience as students seeking affordable quality food, built Goodie Bag Food Co. as a surplus-food marketplace. The team won first place in the program's final pitch competition and used the prize to launch the business.

Business model

Partnered restaurants, bakeries, cafes, grocers and other food shops list surplus or discounted items on the Goodie Bag app; nearby users are notified, reserve and pay in-app, and collect the order at the shop. All orders are pickup only, with no delivery, so customers pay the listed price without delivery fees or tips. Merchants use the channel to recover revenue on inventory that would otherwise be discarded.

Revenue derives from the marketplace transactions in which consumers purchase discounted surplus and fresh-deal bags from partner shops for pickup; the sources do not specify the commission or fee structure. The consumer app itself is free to download.

Traction

The app reports more than 50,000 downloads on Google Play as of the August 2026 listing update. The company launched in January 2023 with one Boulder partner and by October 2024 had expanded to Fort Collins, Denver, Charlotte and Charleston, doubling headcount with the addition of Jack Connors and Briana Boehmer as full-time employees. By March 2025 it listed ten U.S. cities. Founders say most bags sell out in under a minute, and the Milwaukee launch began with more than a dozen partner businesses.

Latest developments

Launches in Milwaukee and Madison were set for Oct. 31, 2024, supported by more than a dozen area partners. By March 2025 the app was operating in ten U.S. cities and held a 4.8-star App Store rating and 3.8-star Google Play rating. The Google Play listing, updated in August 2026, reports more than 50,000 downloads and describes recent releases adding photo-enhanced reviews, food filters on Discover, multiple saved locations, queue-jump drop alerts, a redesigned cart, and partner-side tools for images, banners, categories and shop ratings.