Best buys bypass sell-by date

WHEN supermarket co-owner Ian Carter started offering food past its sell-by date but before its use-by date at reduced prices in KZN, he targeted the taxi rank in Pinetown.

“Within three months, schools and moms were calling us, saying they were too scared to come there,” he said.

“So we opened a second, in Caversham Road. Now, we’re also in Durban North and Hillcrest. People from all walks of life come there to save a buck.”

Carter even battles to find enough stock, which is three to six months past its sell-by date at the oldest. Older food would be available in the less regulated informal sector.

“There is just not enough of it,” he said.

He believes the trend in South Africa was started in the Western Cape but is well established abroad. He understands that in some countries retailers may not discard food past its sell-by date before offering it to sellers offering reduced prices.

After acquiring dated food, people like Carter go about debranding and rebranding it before selling it at discounted prices.

“We still throw away a fair amount. We can’t use everything we salvage.”

That said, 30% of what they buy, goes to pigs on farms.

He believed companies bigger than his would want to get in on the act but brand protection and liability were the biggest issues to many.

The National Consumer Commission (NCC) said that while it was aware that some businesses were selling dated food at reduced prices, no analysis of the market place had been done to enable them to factually state there was a trend in this regard.

Inspectors

Spokesperson Trevor Hattingh said legality around the issue centred on the Foodstuffs Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, which is administered by the national Department of Health, but delegated for enforcement to municipalities.

“Inspectors at municipalities are the ones who enforce this act.

“Ordinarily when the NCC deals with consumer matters related to this issue, it works in conjunction with health inspectors from municipalities,” he said.

Andre Nel, general manager for sustainability at Pick n Pay, said the company did all it could through accurate ordering to maximise the shelf life of food in its stores and minimise waste.

“We have a significant and growing partnership with FoodForward SA (which collects edible surplus food from manufacturers and retailers to feed thousands of hungry people) to ensure food which is within code, but will not be sold, is available to feed those in need.

“We are careful always to comply with the law and any changes to the law would need to be discussed with and promulgated by government.”

Nel said tackling food waste was an important part of sustainability. “Our war on waste commitment promises to reduce our food waste to landfill by 20% by 2020. This past financial year, we diverted 48.4% of our waste from landfill, a total of just over 19 000 tons, considerably ahead of our target.”

Nel said Pick n Pay was also FoodForward SA’s largest retail partner.

“Last year we donated more than R90 million – or 5.8 million meals – in edible food for distribution to their 600 beneficiary organisations to assist those in need.

“We also reduce waste through Waste to Food, a project which recycles food waste into compost, while improving efficiencies in our buying systems,” he said.

Other supermarket chains approached for comment did not respond.