Goodie Bag, a mobile app that helps restaurants and grocers sell high-quality surplus food at discounted prices, launched in Longmont this month. Co-founder Eddy Connors said that the goal of the app is simple: reduce food waste, increase access to good local food, and help small businesses thrive.
“We’re here to support local,” Connors said. “We’re making sure that prepared meals and perishables get to someone’s stomach rather than the bin, and that businesses see more foot traffic and less financial loss.”
That mission resonated with Shauna Strecker, founder of Bella La Crema in downtown Longmont, which is one of Goodie Bag’s newest partners. Bella La Crema is no ordinary food shop. It is the world’s first butter bar. Strecker opened the business in Lyons in 2018 before relocating to Longmont, where she now offers over 25 varieties of small-batch, cultured compound butters.
“I thought it was really fun and interesting,” Strecker said of Goodie Bag. “It’s a way [for customers] to try new things without spending tons of money. And you’re also saving businesses from throwing food out.”
The process is designed to be quick and easy. Users download the app, set their location radius, and get notified when a nearby shop has a “goodie bag” available. These surprise bundles of unsold food often contain $18 worth of items but sell for as little as $6.
“You might not know exactly what’s inside the bag, but we’ve found that people love the surprise, and more importantly, they love the value,” Connors said. “And our shop partners are incentivized to make it a great experience, because 40 percent of customers come back as regulars.”
That repeat business is part of the company’s mission to support small businesses. Take Barchetta, a pizza shop in Boulder, as an example. Connors said Goodie Bag helped the owner recover more than $10,000 worth of food that would have gone to waste and introduced hundreds of new customers who later spent over $30,000 at the shop outside of the app.
Customers are also already coming back to visit Bella La Crema. “We’ve had customers come back in because they loved the butter and the experience,” Strecker said. “We have a pretty bougie place, and I think putting a diversity of things in the bag helps get people curious about what we’re about.”
Connors said the company’s model is most impactful in places where shops have time-sensitive products, such as fresh meals, pastries, and groceries. These are items that are still perfectly good but nearing the end of their shelf life. The app keeps that food out of landfills and makes local products more accessible to people priced out by inflation.
“Statistics show that around 84 percent of Americans are looking for better deals on food,” Connors said. “This is a way to get affordable, delicious food while supporting your local economy.”
Goodie Bag has already begun partnering with Longmont favorites including Landline Doughnuts, Biscuits at Mike’s, Bakewell, and Peak Press Juicery, Connors says the platform is completely free for businesses to use, with no fees, no contracts, and no minimums.
“We’ve heard from a lot of small shop owners that they’ve been burned by tech companies before,” he said. “So we flipped the script. We want it to be obvious that we’re here to help, not to take advantage.”
Strecker agrees. “I like the fact that they use the word ‘partners’ and really mean it,” she said. “Eddy interviewed me, stayed in touch, and was right there when I needed help logging in. There’s a real symbiotic relationship. That’s what builds trust and community.”
For Strecker, who has long believed in food as a deeply personal and communal experience, that connection is key. “One of my big mantras, besides making butter beautiful again, is to really connect with people where they are in their relationship with food. The way we experience the food chain impacts our health directly,” she said.
Connors believes that spirit, combined with Goodie Bag’s easy-to-use app and mission-driven model, has the potential to reshape food access across Colorado and beyond. The company has already expanded to cities like Charlotte, Charleston, and Milwaukee.
But its roots are still in Colorado. “We started in Boulder. We’re committed to supporting the Colorado food scene,” he said. “If you care about where your food comes from and want to vote with your dollar, we hope you’ll choose Goodie Bag.”
Strecker sees the same potential. “The more Longmont businesses that do it, the more people are going to get curious and jump on the bandwagon,” she said. “I think this has the potential to be huge.”
