JANUARY 2018

ENVIRONMENT
East of England to sell food after Best Before date to cut food waste
p Joint CEO Roger Grosvenor launches the society’s latest food waste initiative
The East of England Co-op has become the
first major retailer to start selling products
beyond their ‘Best Before’ date with the
aim of significantly reducing food waste
in its stores.
The biggest independent retailer in
East Anglia will now sell products over
their Best Before date in its 125 food stores
for a nominal 10p. The move follows
a successful three-month trial in 14
stores and will be launched with new a
campaign, “The Co-op Guide to Dating”.
It is estimated that every year between
30–50% of food produced globally for
human consumption is wasted. East of
England hopes the initiative will save at
least two metric tonnes of waste a year.
Shoppers will be told ‘Don’t be a
binner, have it for dinner!’ and ‘It’s
not nice to get dumped’ in an effort to
encourage participation.
Joint chief executive Roger Grosvenor,
said: “This is one of many initiatives we
have instigated to make the East of England
Co-op as efficient as possible, reducing
our impact on the environment.”
The Food Standards Agency says
products past their Best Before date
are safe to consume but may not be
at optimum quality. The products will
remain on sale for one month past their
Best Before date.
“During our trial we found our 10p
items went within hours of being reduced,
sometimes quicker,” said Mr Grosvenor.
“The vast majority of our customers
understand they are fine to eat and
appreciate the opportunity to make a
significant saving.
“This is not a money-making exercise,
but a sensible move to reduce food waste
and keep edible food in the food chain. By
selling perfectly edible food we can save
50,000 plus items every year.”
p A slogan for the 10p food items
The majority of products that use Best
Before dates will be included, such as
tinned goods, packets and dried food.
The 10p reduced products will not include
‘Use By’ dated products, which should
not be consumed after the Use By date
has passed.
Sales data is more closely reviewed
to monitor waste levels in each store, to
enable the co-op to reduce products which
generate excessive waste.
East of England has also instigated
a new Reduced to Clear policy, offering
more significant discounts earlier in the
day on products nearing their Use By
dates to further help reduce waste.
These changes are the latest in a string
of environmental initiatives at the society.
Customer recycling points and recycling
facilities for stores help manage packaging
waste, and partnerships between local
suppliers in its Sourced Locally range
recuce transport distances, reducing the
carbon footprint.
The 10p discounted food cannot be
donated to charities such as food banks,
as they do not accept food after its Best
Before date. Instead, the society collects
non-perishable food and toiletries within
date in all its stores. Donations for more
than 80,000 meals were collected last
year, supplying 22 food banks.
8 | JANUARY 2018