M&S Ballymena launches £3.80 Too Good To Go bakery Surprise Bags
The newly launched M&S Too Good To Go bakery Surprise Bags
Tuesday 15 September 2026
M&S Ballymena shoppers can now pick up more than £10 worth of surplus bakery products for £3.80 as the retailer launches a new partnership with Too Good To Go across Northern Ireland.
The Ballymena store is one of 13 M&S Food locations taking part, with Surprise Bags containing three to four products from its in-store bakery that would otherwise be left unsold at the end of the day.
Customers will not know exactly what is inside until collection, but M&S says bags could include pastries, cookies and bread, with each containing products worth at least £10.20 at normal retail prices.
How to get a £3.80 Surprise Bag
The bags are ordered through the Too Good To Go app and can be collected from participating stores Monday to Saturday, during the final hour before the individual store closes.
Availability will depend on how much surplus bakery stock a store has on a particular day, meaning bags may not necessarily be available every day.
The scheme follows a trial at selected M&S stores elsewhere in the UK and marks the first time surplus bakery products from participating Northern Ireland stores have been offered through Too Good To Go.
13 Northern Ireland stores taking part
Alongside Ballymena, the participating locations are M&S Abbey Centre, M&S Banbridge, M&S Belfast, M&S Belfast Boucher Road Simply Food, M&S Belfast - Upper Road Simply Food, M&S Bangor, M&S Coleraine, M&S Craigavon, M&S Crescent Link Retail Park Simply Food, M&S Lisburn, M&S Malone Lisburn Road and M&S Newtownbreda.
Ryan Lemon, Regional Manager, said:
“It’s great to be involved in this new launch with Too Good To Go to help reduce food waste. Our in-store bakeries are incredibly popular with customers, and at the end of the day, customers will now be able to order and collect surprise bags offering fantastic surplus bakery products at great value. By finding new ways to re-purpose surplus products, we’re helping ensure more food is enjoyed rather than wasted. This partnership is another positive step towards reaching our goal of halving food waste by 2030.”
Part of wider push to cut food waste
M&S says the partnership forms part of its Plan A commitment to halve food waste by 2030. The retailer recently announced that more than 130 million meals had been donated after more than 57,000 tonnes of surplus food were redistributed to charities.
Other measures used by M&S include repurposing surplus bread to make frozen garlic bread, selling extra-ripe bananas at reduced prices and marking down unsold food towards the end of the day. The company says food that can no longer be eaten is sent for anaerobic digestion to generate renewable energy rather than going to landfill.
Chelsea Kerr, Managing Director at Too Good To Go UK & Ireland, said:
“We’re delighted to be partnering with M&S to help make their surplus food available to even more customers across the UK and Ireland. Food waste is a huge challenge, but partnerships like this show how simple it can be for businesses and consumers to take action together.
“By giving food that might otherwise go unsold another chance to be enjoyed, we’re making it easier for people to save good food while also getting great value. M&S is a much-loved brand across the UK, so we’re excited to be working together to make saving food from going to waste a simple and accessible part of everyday life for even more people.”
For Ballymena shoppers, the immediate benefit is straightforward: the new scheme offers another way to pick up discounted M&S food while helping prevent unsold bakery products from going to waste.
How to use Too Good To Go
Customers who want to take advantage of the offer will need the Too Good To Go app, which can be downloaded free from the Apple App Store or Google Play.
Once registered, users can search for M&S Ballymena in the app and, when a Surprise Bag is available, reserve and pay for it directly through the app.
Customers then visit the store during the stated collection window — Monday to Saturday, during the final hour before the store closes — and use the app when collecting their Surprise Bag.
As the bags are made up from surplus bakery stock remaining that day, availability and the products included will vary.
