Waste not: Tesco scraps more best before dates, consumers say it helps reduce food waste

09 Oct 2018 --- The UK’s largest retailer, Tesco, is set to remove over one hundred more best before dates from its fruit and vegetable products, as customers say it helps them reduce food waste. Newly commissioned research reveals that 69 percent of customers believe scrapping best before dates is a good idea. 53 percent of shoppers in the same survey said they believe that by scrapping best before dates makes a difference, helping them keep fresh food for longer.

Best before dates will be removed on 116 additional products including apples, oranges, cabbages and asparagus. This follows the supermarket removing the guidance dates from around 70 fruit and veg lines earlier this year.

This is part of Tesco’s commitment to reduce food waste, helping to prevent perfectly edible food from being thrown away as a part of its farm to fork approach to tackling food waste.

Tesco’s Head of Food Waste Reduction Mark Little says: “Removing best before dates is our way of making it easier for customers to reduce food waste at home and save money in the process.”

“It’s simply not right that food goes to waste and we’re going to do everything we can to help.”

Last week, Tesco CEO, Dave Lewis, called for global transparency on food waste as 27 of Tesco’s biggest suppliers published their food waste data for the first time.

This includes Booker, the wholesale group Tesco snapped up for £4 billion (US$5.5 billion) last March to create a retail powerhouse in the UK food industry. 

Branded suppliers including Coca-Cola, Mars, General Mills and Unilever will also commit to the project within the next 12 months. In addition, 27 of Tesco’s own label suppliers will be publishing their data. You can read further FoodIngredientsFirst coverage on this here. 

Tesco became the first UK retailer to publish the amount of food wasted in its UK operations in 2013. The retailer is now over 70 percent of the way towards its goal that no food that’s safe for human consumption goes to waste from its UK stores and distribution centers.