Co-op Initiative To Reduce Waste

The Co-op has become the first food retailer to start selling food that is past its best before dates in an effort to reduce food waste.

East of England Co-op Initiative

The 125 Co-op stores in East Anglia has started to sell non-perishable goods at reduced prices once they have exceeded their best before dates under the slogan "Don't be a binner, have it for dinner". Tinned goods and dried goods such as rice and pasta are on sale for 10p each. The scheme has already been trialled for three months in 14 Co-Op stores and was hailed as a major success.

The joint Chief Executive of the East of England Co-op, Roger Grosvenor, has stated that the scheme is a remarkable success so far. He stated that the Co-op were not looking to make money from this and it was intended to help reduce the waste of edible food. He added that it was also an opportunity to pass on savings to their customers and that the products on sale for 10p had all been sold within hours.

Cutting Food Waste

It is hoped that this move by the East of England Co-op, who operate as a separate group from the main Co-op company, will help with moves to cut food waste. The initiative has been welcomed by Wrap, a national food waste agency, who stated that they saw implications for a potential wider scheme.

The Food Standards Agency have stated that 17.3 million tonnes of food are thrown away in the UK each year. The Co-op have assessed that their new initiative will prevent approximately 50,000 products from being thrown away each year.

Perishable Goods Not Included

Fresh food will not be included in the Co-op initiative as it has use by dates rather than best before dates. This means that the food is not safe to eat once the use by date has been reached and therefore it must be thrown away.