BOGOF

[Kendhni]

Wow a supermarket has either found a way to make more money (by selling smaller packs and reducing availability) or is genuinely wising up to food wastage ... Story here

Much of the wastage is because people refuse to pay inflated prices for packaged foods .. so it gets dumped by the supermarkets ... maybe if they reduced the prices more (although that could be bad for other smaller independent businesses .. who, to a certain extent, dictate the prices supermarkets have to charge).

BOGOF's generally annoy me ... why not simply reduce the price of the item. The number of times I have pointed out a better value item to (usually) a pensioner who then tells me that they don't want to buy it because it would be wasted .. so they buy the smaller item which is the same, or sometimes a higher, price. Get rid of multi-buys .. just bring the price of the item down.

[oldbluefox]

I agree. Whilst we very often buy the BOGOF offers we actually throw very little food away so they are useful to us (but only if we need them). However most of these offers, because of the sheer volume exclude those who are elderly or live on their own. It's the same with family packs which work out cheaper per 100g. Invariably we pick something up in the supermarket but put it down due to its extortionate price. I presume this is then translated by the supermarket that there is no demand for the item. What they fail to understand is the demand is there, it's their pricing policy which is to blame.

Once when in London I read an article in the newspaper saying that M&S were supplying a mobile food kitchen for the homeless with sandwiches they did not sell. Largely they were the more expensive deli-type sandwiches left at the end of the day and the homeless were sick and tired of smoked salmon and were throwing them away over the fence which was subsequently attracting rats.

I find it hard to believe that a bag of washed salad should cost £1.50. There are some items where it is actually cheaper to go to your local greengrocer or market and buy from them. Supermarkets are convenient of course, but not necessarily cheaper.

It would be an interesting experiment, rather than throwing the food away to reduce the price down on the hour towards zero at the end of the day and see how much is left. Go early and you pay more, go later and it will be a lot cheaper but they may have sold out. I wonder what the impact would be.

[ChesterfieldJohn]

While my Daughter was at University she worked in the local Bakers Oven cafe (Greggs) in Chesterfield and at the end of the day the food that was left had to be thrown away due to health and safety.

My Daughter got a written warning because she gave some of the pre wrapped sandwiches to two local homeless people who were in the alley at the back of the store.

Surely it would be better if all companies could provide foodbanks with the left over food.

John

[Dark Knight]

interesting news item on today of one supermarket throwing away 30,000 tonnes of food in a year !!!!

30,000 tonnes...they should be prosecuted for wasting food like that

[david63]

There are a multitude of reasons why this happens, it is nothing new and the supermarkets have known about it for years.

Firstly the supermarkets are not really interested in what happens to foodstuffs once they have been paid for and selling large packs that have a short life are all good for their profits as the customer has to buy more.

Much of the supermarket's own waste can be eliminated by getting their ordering right but having said that it is the supplier who is funding the waste anyway - usually by giving high levels of discount for agreed order levels in return for not returning unsold product.

As far as fresh fruit and vegetables are concerned this is inevitable when you are moving most of them literally half way round the world every day. If the public not been conditioned, by the supermarkets in the first place, to need every type of fruit and vegetable every day then a lot of this problem would be eliminated - what happened to eating what is in season.

The idea of making smaller packs is great in that it should go some way towards reducing waster but we all know that there are cost implications in doing that - so the next complaint will be that the cost of food has gone up.

[Dark Knight]

found the article
Tesco wasted 30.000 tonnes of food in the first 6 months of the year....beggars belief, why dont they get organised with local charities and give it to food banks and soup kitchens
it was mainly fruit and bakery items

[Boris+]

Hi DK,

Now forgive me for this - it's been sort of asked why can't supermarkets give the food in question to homeless people or charities etc..... I can't help but wonder (sorry about this) if the reason is that either a supermarket feels that it would be 'demeaning' their brand if homeless people etc were seen in possession of stuff, or - if homeless people etc then became ill as a result of eating something which datewise was a bit borderline, would they then try and sue the supermarket? Would there (could there) be adverse publicity?

Apologies.

Em

[Dark Knight]

Em
sadly you are probably right
it is a disgrace that supermarkets have been allowed to have so much control of our shopping habbits

[Onelife]

Hi DK,

Now forgive me for this - it's been sort of asked why can't supermarkets give the food in question to homeless people or charities etc..... I can't help but wonder (sorry about this) if the reason is that either a supermarket feels that it would be 'demeaning' their brand if homeless people etc were seen in possession of stuff, or - if homeless people etc then became ill as a result of eating something which datewise was a bit borderline, would they then try and sue the supermarket? Would there (could there) be adverse publicity?

Apologies.

Em

Hi EM

“Food for thought”

Good post

Regards

Keith

[Ray B]

All that food waste is a disgrace but some times the weather can be a problem when all of a sudden a cold snap comes and no one wants a salad.

Ray

[Dark Knight]

you can do loads with veggies, not just a salad
the big supermarkets should be offereing excess produce to charities for free...end of

[david63]

In fairness the report does not say what happens to the waste from the supermarkets and also says that a large percentage of the waste is created by the consumer - albeit with a little encouragement from the supermarkets.

The problem with things like salads is that because they are imported there is such a long lead time that the supermarkets cannot react to changes in the weather. Also with fresh fruit/veg once it is grown it has to be harvested and despatched to the supermarket or scrapped on the farm. Remember that most of the overseas producers are owned by the big supermarkets.

This is another one of those stories that is headline seeking and is withholding a lot of the salient facts.

[Andrea S]

This same supermarket currently has a strange offer on Shredded Wheat. A box of 16 is £2.09 and a box of 30 is £1.84.

Would buying the larger box be saving money or a waste of food.

[david63]

Would buying the larger box be saving money or a waste of food.

Possibly both

[royalprincess]

The supermarkets have themselves to blame. Ordering too much and uncompetitive pricing i.e. 240 Yorkshire Tea bags last week £4.00 - 160 of the same tea bags £4.84. Well tea in this house doesnt go to waste so its cost effective to buy the larger size. Just look at the price per unit to compare prices that's the best way to compare. There is no need to throw away food at all - meals can be made out of nothing if you know how to cook. By all means stock up on store cupboard basics it makes financial sense - who knows what the price will be next week.

[Kendhni]

This same supermarket currently has a strange offer on Shredded Wheat. A box of 16 is £2.09 and a box of 30 is £1.84.

Would buying the larger box be saving money or a waste of food.

That is what I was getting at in my OP. I have pointed out such offers to people but their response is that they only need 16 and don;t like to waste.

I would like to see something that if a larger pack is reduced (or a BOGOF created) then smaller packs are reduced to avoid such discrepancies as highlighted above. This would only be good for those on a budget who maybe can not afford the larger packs OR do not want to create wastage.

[Not so ancient mariner]

I had to laugh this morning when on the BBC breakfast program, Charlie Stayt announced that over 50% of Tesco bakery produce was thrown away - BEFORE IT HAD BEEN EATEN!

[david63]

I had to laugh this morning when on the BBC breakfast program, Charlie Stayt announced that over 50% of Tesco bakery produce was thrown away - BEFORE IT HAD BEEN EATEN!

Arguably it is all "thrown away" AFTER it's been eaten

[Andrea S]

Kendhi, there were 2 labels side by side saying approx 6p and 13p a biscuit. It makes no sense in buying the smaller pack but I can see why someone living on their own possibly do.

My Mum always bought the smallest size possible as it was easier for her to carry and didn't take up space in her cupboard. The same with small tins of beans and tomatoes , they were always double the price of a large tin. Perhaps shops depend on people shopping this way

[david63]

Taking the example of tins of beans the difference in the cost of the actual beans in the tin is minimal as is the cost of the tin. What does not change is the production/distribution costs which will be roughly the same so it will never be practical to charge half the price of a large tin for a small tin. The same principle will apply to all packaged food.

One of the big problems is that the supermarkets want as much as possible to be pre-packaged as it makes their life easier but is not always in the interests of the consumer - bring back loose products I say so that I can but the quantity that I want and not the quantity that the supermarket want me to buy for their convenience and profit.

As I said before there is nothing new in any of this and much is of the supermarket's own making

[Kendhni]

I am in 2 minds about loose stuff ... I have watched too many people feel/grope/smell every piece of fruit or loaf that is out before making their choice ... to save time I usually ask such people which would have been their second choice

[Silver_Shiney]

While my Daughter was at University she worked in the local Bakers Oven cafe (Greggs) in Chesterfield and at the end of the day the food that was left had to be thrown away due to health and safety.

My Daughter got a written warning because she gave some of the pre wrapped sandwiches to two local homeless people who were in the alley at the back of the store.

Surely it would be better if all companies could provide foodbanks with the left over food.

John

When I ran a soup-kitchen, the homeless often said they'd raid waste bins behind the food shops to garner the produce thrown out.

[royalprincess]

Taking the example of tins of beans the difference in the cost of the actual beans in the tin is minimal as is the cost of the tin. What does not change is the production/distribution costs which will be roughly the same so it will never be practical to charge half the price of a large tin for a small tin. The same principle will apply to all packaged food.

One of the big problems is that the supermarkets want as much as possible to be pre-packaged as it makes their life easier but is not always in the interests of the consumer - bring back loose products I say so that I can but the quantity that I want and not the quantity that the supermarket want me to buy for their convenience and profit.

As I said before there is nothing new in any of this and much is of the supermarket's own making

Another vote for loose products - remember broken biscuits at Wollies? There used to be a shop near me which sold biscuits, cornflakes, rice, pasta etc etc loose - lovely - bought just what you needed or could afford. The blasted EU and elf and safety put a stop to that. Oh the good old days.

[Andrea S]

Royalprincess., It is strange you mentioning the shop where you could buy things loose. It was only this weekend that subject came up with friends. We had a local store that had large bins with everything you could need for cooking, plus cereal, tea and coffee. At this time of the year you could get all the ingredients you needed for Christmas baking and get exactly the amount you needed. My friends son worked in the kitchen of a nursing home and he would buy a large quantity of Christmas Cake mix and make individual cakes for each resident.

[Holiday Planner]

A few weeks ago the room adjacent to my office was used for a corporate meeting with lunch provided. At the end of the meeting quite a lot of food was left over - sandwiches, pork pies, samosas etc. I had already eaten my lunch, but suspecting the food would be discarded, my colleague and I had a few of the nibbles, and I set aside a couple of rolls (plain - no butter or anything on) for my lunch the next day. I thought it might be greedy to take more than that, so left it. About half an hour later, the catering staff came in and tipped the whole lot into a black sack ... I couldn't believe the waste, and wished I'd kept more!