I tried Co-op’s Too Good To Go Magic Bag and loved what I found inside

I love a good bargain and because I was impressed with a previous To Good To Go Magic Bag from Birds Bakery, I decided to give Co-op a try.

Co-op is a store I pop into, to do a top-up shop for items I can’t buy from my usual weekly shop, or if I have run low on an item that I cannot find elsewhere.

I do my weekly shop from various supermarkets, choosing to switch it up each week, between the usual suspects of Aldi, Lidl, Ocado, Tesco, and more recently, Sainsbury’s and Asda.

This was my first time getting a Too Good To Go Magic Bag from a supermarket, and I was looking forward to it.

After securing a bag on the Too Good To Go app, I decided to take a walk to my local Co-op to collect my Magic Bag.

As is the norm with Magic Bag collections at other stores, there was a strict time window for collection from 8.30pm - 8.45pm.

I wasn’t expecting a particularly large haul, as the Co-op is fairly busy every time I’ve been, so I thought there wouldn’t be that much surplus unsold stock.

It was a nice surprise to see a box filled with goodies.

I had a real hankering for Viennese Whirls, which I haven’t eaten in years, and I very nearly picked up a box to buy as I was waiting to collect my To Good To Go Magic Bag.

I was glad I refrained from buying, as my Magic Bag, which should have been renamed Magic Box, had three boxes of Viennese Whirls.

That made my day, and because the Viennese Whirl boxes had a best before date not a use-by date, I was happy to stockpile them and eat at a later date.

What I got in my Too Good To Go Magic Bag from Co-op

I was surprised by how much product came in the bag, here is a list of everything that was inside it, along with the full-price cost.

• New York baked cheesecake £4.20
• Hummus £2.75
• Sandwich filler vegan sage and onion deli slices £2.50
• 2 Sandwich filler vegan deli slices £2.50 each, total £5
• 3 boxes Viennese Whirls £3 each, total £9
• 2 Pain au chocolat £1 each, total £2
• 6 Bread rolls 60p each, total £3.60
• 4 Raspberry yoghurt pots £2.50

Grand total of full-priced products: £31.55

I paid £4 for the Co-op Magic Bag, which is a massive saving of £27.55.

All the chilled food had a use-by date that was the same date as collection.

I managed to sling all the chilled food in the fridge and used for lunch the following day.

I kept two bread rolls aside, for lunch the following day and froze the rest off.

In short, everything in the Magic Bag, I managed to eat.

The cheesecake was very large, so we only managed to eat about a quarter of it.

My thoughts on Too Good To Go Magic Bag from Co-op

What I love about Magic Bags is the opportunity to save money.

However, most places bag up unsold, surplus stock that has a use-by date that is the same date as collection, and within around 30 minutes of closing which means you have to pretty much eat everything on the day, at around 9pm.

Yes, I know I ate the deli food one day after the use-by date, which is not ideal, so the need to eat food quickly is something to bear in mind.

Money can be saved by not buying full-price food, however it becomes problematic for those who have specific dietary restrictions or who may be picky eaters.

For example, someone following a carnivorous diet who doesn’t particularly like vegan food, will not eat the three packs of vegan sandwich deli fillers that came in my box.

I really enjoyed my Too Good To Go Magic Bag from Co-op and will be buying from them again.

Address: Central Co-op Food & Insomnia Cafe, 471-473 Burton Road, Littleover, Derby DE23 6FQ