Tesco is to offer its customers free food at the end of the day in a bid to cut waste.
The supermarket will give away already discounted ‘yellow sticker’ items after 9.30pm in some of its Express convenience stores as part of a limited trial over the coming months.
Tesco already donates expiring products to charities and food banks but said it was taking this step as part of its goal of halving waste from its operations. The company noted that the free food would be offered to charities and shop workers first before being made available to customers.
The trial will begin in a small number of Express stores, but Tesco has not revealed the locations or start date.
All major supermarket chains in the UK have partnerships to send surplus food to charities. Sainsbury’s, Asda, and Morrisons have pledged to halve food waste by 2030, whilst Aldi has achieved this already.
Many supermarkets also offer steep discounts on expiring items but Tesco’s trial appears to be the first direct-to-customer policy in the UK.
Last February, the supermarket had to revise its figures about the progress it had made cutting down on food waste after it emerged that it had been working with a food waste processor using anaerobic digestion. This meant it had cut food waste by only 18% between early 2017 and 2023, instead of the 45% it had previously claimed. The firm had a target to cut its food waste by 50% by the end of this year as part of its net zero push.
A Tesco spokesperson said of the trial: “We are constantly looking for innovative new ways to reduce food waste. In all our stores we offer unsold surplus food to charities and community groups, donating millions of meals each month.
“This trial, in a small number of our Express stores, will allow customers to take any remaining yellow stickered items for free at the end of the day after they have first been offered to charities and colleagues.”
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- Win-wins all around…
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