‘Best before’ revolution to target £20bn of food waste

CONSUMERS are to be offered smaller food portions and big discounts on food sold after its “best before” dates in a food waste revolution aimed at slashing the amount Britons throw away.

Some of Britain’s biggest food retailers and manufacturers, including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Nestlé will today pledge to halve food waste by 2030.

Restaurants and the hospitality industry will also be urged to set similar targets by offering customers options of smaller size portions at reduced prices, redistributing leftover kitchen food to the needy and providing doggy bags for partially eaten meals to be taken home rather than thrown away.

A major drive to expand the amount of surplus food redistributed by retailers will also be unveiled, potentially by removing products earlier from shelves before their “use by dates” to give more time to find recipients, including poorer families and the homeless.

The plans will be announced at a symposium today attended by 300 individuals and businesses where Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, will warn that food waste is a “environmental, economic and moral scandal”.

Writing in today’s Daily Telegraph, Ben Elliot, the Government’s food waste champion, said Britain was in the midst of “food waste epidemic” with some £20billion worth of food binned annually, averaging £500 a year per household.

“Much more can and must be done. In this role, I fully intend to expose those not doing their bit. But equally, I’m keen to shine a light on examples of best practice too,” he said.

The Co-op supermarket will reveal today that it reduced its operational food waste by 29 per cent from 2015 to 2018. One key way was to take “use by” food off the shelves earlier so redistribution firms and charities could make use of it. “It’s perfectly legal to sell it,” said Andrew Parry, the special adviser for food and drink at WRAP, which advises the Government on food waste.

Dave Lewis, Tesco’s chief executive, welcomed the pledge, but said a commitment from all UK food companies to publish their food waste data within the next 12 months should also be part of the agreement.