"No date, helps reduce waste" For whose benefit is this?

General_Grant

dealyboy said:
. . . 

I'm afraid my view of markets and greengrocers and indeed corner shops is coloured by my experiences of 60 years ago and since. Often the choice of items is limited and influenced directly by the proprieter and the price is often higher.
. . .

My OH used to buy from market stalls but I haven't done so for a very long time - until the middle of December when I saw what I thought was a bargain of 2 large avocado for £1. 

Unfortunately they were both still hard after a week and strangely formed (odd texture/nobbly  not smooth) inside.  I tried tasting them but they were horrible and landed in the bin.  I think that was only the second purchase I had wasted in the whole of 2022 (the other. being some mushrooms (not the whole pack) which I had forgotten about in a bag and which I  then put in the garden hoping for a crop in due course). 

If I had bought the avocado from a supermarket, I would have returned them with a complaint.  As it is, I shall simply not buy from a market stall for another ten years or so.

KxMx

I have a local greengrocer not far from where I live, if needing to get quite a bit I use my shopping trolley, no carrying plus gives me support while i'm walking. I don't drive and have health problems.
Yes, they are more expensive in terms of pennies than the SM's, but the quality is incredible and everything lasts a long time, so if value for money is what you're after then the greengrocer for me wins hands down.
As a bonus the packaging within the shop is absolutely minimal.

Frozen veg is more nutritious because the nutrients get preserved very quickly, instead of degrading for however long since harvesting it takes to get onto your plate, now would I buy frozen sliced peppers to eat in a salad, no, would I buy to cook with in something like a stir fry, absolutely.

born_again

Katiehound said:

unfortunately some silly people throw things away on the date, even the day before the date! because they are obsessed by best before dates.

Prime example of that was Friday before Christmas. Bought some coleslaw. Woman next to me was rooting through them all and moaning they are all use by dated 26-12. 
Still sat in my fridge & tastes just the same as the day it was bought. Will either all get eaten or thrown out once mould start growing. So use by date is now 5 days ago...
Vegs bought earlier the same week are sat in garage & all still fine.

The sooner ANY date is removed the better & let you decide if it's still editable. 

strawb_shortcake

I tend to take little notice of BB dates especially for fruit and veg, always go by my senses on that.

I love the thought of using a local butcher and greengrocer, butcher we kind of achieve now and then but not found one quite right. 

Greengrocers near me are either astronomically priced via farm shop/farmers market or a market stall and poor quality. 

I visited a local farmers market intending to purchase the weeks veg, but after spying a £3 cauliflower I quickly realised I would be returning to the SM.

The market stall, is one with bowls for £1, but when you look at the quantities they are often much  less than I can get in the SM. I also find that the items on top are often hiding poor looking fruit underneath.

I have found 2 greengrocers and I can only assume that a lack of custom has resulted in them often being over stocked and the product quality deteriorating, I'm not sure how either stay in business 

Salamat

"Clearly it’s getting some people snippy, oh well. They will have to get used to it soon and then maybe, just maybe there will be less food waste. "

Just a reminder why I started the post.....I was throwing away oranges that were going bad, four days after purchase! That was a waste! Also, on the same day I bought them, I was handling a bag of pears in the shop and my finger sunk into one of them....I didn't buy them!     

I don't need or use the 'BBD' to throw away food, I can tell, by look or feel, when my fruit or veg is going rotten. I did use it though, to influence my choice, when I was selecting things (multi-packs) for my weekly shop!

So far, despite several replies to the thread, I've not seen anything convincing to suggest that the move is in the consumer's benefit!

Brie

Stores will still need to have some sort of date code so they know when they should discount stock.  Think about it - a bag of 4 oranges without a date could (theoretically) be sold any time.  This week, next week, 2024.  But we (& the stores) all know that at some point one of the oranges will turn to mush thus making the whole bag a complete loss of ££.  So put a code on - maybe L3 - and then the spotty teen send to discount the oranges will know that on the 2nd anything with an L3 code needs to be moved to the yellow sticker bin.

Now how they manage things for stuff that is sold loose is a different issue.  

jackieblack

Brie said:

Now how they manage things for stuff that is sold loose is a different issue.  

By the look of the whole tray of canary yellow broccoli I saw in store yesterday, they’re not managing it at all, currently 🙄

jackieblack

Salamat said:

I don't need or use the 'BBD' to throw away food, I can tell, by look or feel, when my fruit or veg is going rotten. I did use it though, to influence my choice, when I was selecting things (multi-packs) for my weekly shop!

Yes, this ^^^ 100%
My opportunities to shop are often limited and I need the produce I buy to last me for as long as I need it to.  If something is short-dated, I choose something else instead, so hopefully knowing these new codes should help  🤞🏻

alicef

Brie said:

Now how they manage things for stuff that is sold loose is a different issue.  

In Lidl it's time for the £1.50 box appearance I expect.  I'm quite fond of the £1.50 box.

General_Grant

Salamat said:

So far, despite several replies to the thread, I've not seen anything convincing to suggest that the move is in the consumer's benefit!

Wasn't the original retailer-promoted benefit for the consumer that:
those who throw out edible food  because of a date printed on packaging
would not waste so much food and thereby not waste so much of their money?

That's not to deny it can benefit the retailer.