Can Retailers Help Consumers Reduce Food Wastage?

A new Government report soon to be released will urge consumers to take the issue of waste more seriously. It will reveal that more than four million tonnes of food is thrown away every year, inflating the price of the average shopping basket unnecessarily.

Talking to reporters while travelling to the G8 meeting, which takes place in Japan, Mr Brown said, “If we’re to get food prices down, we must do more to deal with unnecessary demand such as by all of us doing more to cut our food waste, which is costing the average household in Britain about eight pounds per week.”

And, in this new war against wastage, it’s fair to ask whether retailers have a responsibility to take the lead. With various offers such as buy one get one frees, shops are often pushing their customers to purchase large quantities, even though they can’t always use everything up.

However, Bruce Salt at Salt’s Delicatessen, in Leeds, believes the problem is more complex than it looks. “These offers possibly have an impact on the level of food that’s wasted, but you also need to look at the background issues. Sometimes, for example, you have a surplus of seasonal products and these promotions help shift stock.”

On the other hand, he thinks that advising shoppers on how to use certain ingredients could be the way forward. “I will certainly not tell my customers to eat anything past its sell-by date, but I might consider recommending ways to cook some products so they can make the most of them.”

But, it’s important to remember that consumers are not the only ones who should be worrying about wastage. Retailers should also try to minimise the food they throw away. Learning ways to use up items nearing their sell-by dates in sandwiches, for example, or discounting them, can be an efficient way to increase profits.