The Reduce Supermarket Wastage Campaign!

PBA

I think we're on the wrong crusade here. If a supermarket branch that turns over tens of thousands of pounds each day throws away 60 quid worth of stock at the end of the day surely they're being incredibly efficient? Certainly in my local T's anything they reduce goes very quickly, the only stuff they're left to bin is meat that is clearly off or bags of fruit that have started to go mouldy.

A more sensible campaign would be to go after restaurants which can easily throw away 50% of what they've had delivered.

uktim29

Helenka wrote: »

I think it is unlikelt that they would give free food to shoppers at the end of the night.
However, perhaps if we got a campaign going then some charities would benefit from this.

I would be willing to help on such a campaign. What do people think?

This can't be done due to the laws governing the control of chilled food. The charities would have to satisfy the environmental health department that they are controlling the food properly. This would probably end up costing them much more than the value of the food.

Many of these stores will have daily takings of as much as 6 even 7 figures in very large stores on some days. The amount of waste vs turnover is very small.

I don't really know what people are trying to achieve here? If you sell food you will have waste. Is this just another thread trying to attack Supermarkets because people don't like their success?

Jules22

what about the chilled food distributers!!!

a whole lorry load can be scrapped if the temperature is not low enough. this also goes to the land fill. staff are not allowed it at discount either. so it not just the shops.

uktim29

Jules22 wrote: »

what about the chilled food distributers!!!

a whole lorry load can be scrapped if the temperature is not low enough. this also goes to the land fill. staff are not allowed it at discount either. so it not just the shops.

Exactly. This is a "power of the people" attack Supermarkets thread. Theres no thought gone into this.

mark_dumpleton

Erm, no it's not.

I used to work in a supermarket so have experience in knowing just how much is thrown away - i'm not on about chilled foods or meat in particular, i'm on about things such as bread and tinned foods that are slightly damaged - i've seen huge bags thrown away each night and there are much more productive things which can be done with it!

kr15snw

Our local Sainsburys is pretty good, they do reduce a bit but not alot. BUT nearly everything they chuck (fresh stuff) is donated to a local animal park to feed all the varieties of animals

Lip_Stick

If they reduced food to a really daft price to tempt people to buy, it might encourage people to try out different foods and brands, therefore increasing their profits long term.

uktim29

mark_dumpleton wrote: »

Erm, no it's not.

I used to work in a supermarket so have experience in knowing just how much is thrown away - i'm not on about chilled foods or meat in particular, i'm on about things such as bread and tinned foods that are slightly damaged - i've seen huge bags thrown away each night and there are much more productive things which can be done with it!

Waste is part of running a large business. I've seen dented tins in reduced sections so it will just vary from place to place etc. Running a business is about making money afterall. You can't spend hundreds of pounds thinking of imaginative things to do with waste!

SaraSeahorse

we can keep food waste out of landfill by using food waste bio-digesters

eselt

I think having a reputation for good discounted stuff at the end of the day and selling at silly prices is good for business overall- I only do a big supermarket shop once a week and always go late in the evening to try and pick up a few bargains-getting some bargains cheers me up, but 95% of my shoppping is bought at the normal rates. The supermarket get my loyalty and I feel I'm getting a good deal. A good example is when our local asda was giving away sprouts and smoked salmon for 5p a couple of days before christmas-yep, I went there to get the bargains, but also did my whole christmas shop at the same time.

I really think they should discount so much that they avoid chucking stuff away at all- I bet if they did some market research they would find that hardly anyone just buys the whoops stuff- you nearly always pick something else up while you are there.