Waitrose is hoping to reduce food waste by removing ‘best before’ dates from nearly 500 fresh food products.
From September, the chain will scrap the dates on packaged fruit and vegetables, including lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and peppers, with consumers encouraged to use their own judgment about when food is still good to eat.
The move aims to cut food waste by preventing people from throwing away products that are still edible. The Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP) estimates that removing dates on fresh fruit and veg could save the equivalent of 7m shopping baskets of food from the bin in the UK.
Waitrose is the latest supermarket to make the move as part of industry efforts to cut food waste for environmental reasons and reduce costs for shoppers.
Tesco led the way when it got rid of best before dates on some fresh food products in 2018.
Last month, M&S dropped best before dates on more than 300 fruit and vegetable products. Meanwhile, Morrisons announced earlier this year that it was removing use-by dates on fresh milk, with consumers encouraged to use a ‘sniff test’ to determine whether it was good to be consumed.
Marija Rompani, director of sustainability and ethics at the John Lewis Partnership, said: “UK households throw away 4.5m tonnes of edible food every year, meaning that all the energy and resources used in food production is wasted.
“By removing best before dates from our products, we want our customers to use their own judgment to decide whether a product is good to eat or not, which in turn will increase its chances of being eaten and not becoming waste.
“By using up existing fresh food in our homes, we can also save on our weekly household food shop, which is becoming an increasingly pressing concern for many.”
Catherine David, director of collaboration and change at WRAP, added: “Best-before dates on fruit and veg are unnecessary and create food waste because they get in the way of people using their judgment when food is still good to eat.
“We are absolutely delighted by this move from Waitrose which will help stop good food ending up in the bin.”
NAM Implications:
- The only issue is whether consumers will blame themselves or the retailer…
- …when products fail the ‘sniff test’.
