Factsheet 1 How the supermarkets and food manufacturers are helping to reduce food waste at home

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1 Factsheet 1 How the supermarkets and food manufacturers are helping to reduce food waste at home Introduction Each year UK households throw away 8.3 million tonnes of food and drink; 5.8 million tonnes go in household bins and are collected by councils; 1.8 million tonnes go down the sink; and 0.7 million tonnes are fed to pets or put in compost bins. The carbon dioxide equivalent emissions associated with growing, transporting, processing, storing and disposing of food and drink that could have been consumed (avoidable waste) are estimated at 20 million tonnes, the same as the emissions from 1 in 4 cars on our roads. Quick Facts The environmental impact of food and drink is on average greater per tonne of waste than that from packaging. Supermarkets support Love Food Hate Waste and promote it s messages in a variety of ways. Well designed packaging protects food and can make it last longer Food manufacturers are producing smaller pack sizes for certain products e.g. bread Some manufacturers are making date labelling easier to understand. The main reasons why we waste food are; cooking, preparing or serving too much; and not using the product in time, often aggravated by poor storage of perishable items. The main groups of wasted food and drink (by weight) are shown in the figure opposite. The value of the avoidable wasted food is 12 billion. Dairy & eggs 7% Meat & fish 7% Meals 8% All Other Bakery 10% Fresh Veg & Salads 23% Fresh fruit Drink Meat & fish Fresh fruit All Other Dairy & eggs 10 % Meals 12% Drink Bakery Fresh Veg & Salads All Waste Avoidable Waste forward home page 1

2 What are the supermarkets and food manufacturers doing to help? Food manufacturers and retailers are playing a crucial role in helping householders reduce the amount of food they throw away generating environmental and commercial benefits. They are doing this by; supporting Love Food Hate Waste and amplifying its communications messages; and making changes to ways products are presented and sold, to help customers waste less. Supporting Love Food Hate Waste Love Food Hate Waste ( has a range of useful information for householders on managing food better, including recipes for using up leftovers, guidance on the meaning of use by and best before dates, ways to store and use up food, help on using the freezer and a portion calculator for a range of different foods. To complement this work, retailers and brands are finding new ways to integrate Love Food Hate Waste messaging into their own customer communication programmes. Some examples include: Sainsbury s Love Your Leftovers programme has hints and tips on own-brand packs, advertising in-store and on television, web-based advice and recipes to inspire better use of leftovers. The programme included a nine-month campaign with Good Housekeeping magazine, encompassing a leftovers challenge and cooking ideas. It has incorporated a Love your Leftovers strand into its annual Make a Difference Day and re-launched the campaign for a second year, giving customers tipwheels and free air-tight storage containers. As part of its Plan A commitment, Marks and Spencer has an online game to help customers explore the environmental and financial impacts of food waste, incorporating tips from the Love Food Hate Waste campaign. These cover planning, portion control, making use of freezers, understanding date labelling, using leftovers and home composting. Tesco regularly features food waste issues in its customer magazine which reaches over two million people. Features include tips on reducing food waste, advice on stocking products, storage and refrigeration, guidance for meal planning and recipe ideas to make the most of leftovers or ideas on different ways to use ingredients. The retailer also uses the Love Food Hate Waste brand and has a Green Living pages on its website. The Co-operative Group carried Love Food Hate Waste messages on customer till screen displays and advertisements on the Co-op in-store radio. Morrisons launched a Great Taste Less Waste campaign, including in-store activity, national PR, regular articles in its magazine and a website. Focusing on helping families to save money by cutting food waste, the site includes advice on planning, portion control, storing food, using leftovers and buying the right amount of food, together with recipe ideas. Waitrose uses its customer publications to explain aspects of food waste for example an 8 page booklet on frozen food and freezer use and offer solutions such as a 7 day meal plan optimising ingredient use. Recipe features regularly offer ideas on using up leftover ingredients or extra portions. page 2

3 Making changes to the retail environment Packaging innovation the right packaging protects food, make it last longer and is less damaging to the environment than wasted food. Some examples: Plastic wrappers on cucumbers help to extend shelf-life by up to 14 days as they stop moisture loss. Morrisons broccoli packaging can help keep broccoli fresh for up to two days longer in the fridge. New vacuum and shrink wrap packaging for joints of meat and whole chickens can extend shelf-life by four days and doesn t need a plastic tray, reducing packaging in some cases by up to 75%. Cathedral City cheese packs are re-closable helping ensure the product remains at its best after opening. Increasingly, re-closable packs are being used for products such as tortillas. Heinz introduced their new fridge pack for baked beans a 1kg pack that lasts for 5 days once opened. A clear window has been left on the side of the pack, so you can see how much is left without opening the plastic jar. Food manufacturers are also investigating new, smaller pack sizes helping householders buy just the right amount, such as Kingsmill s Little Big Loaf and Warburtons 600g loaf. Warburtons made the decision to remove the display-until dates on all its bakery products earlier this year to help householders understand date labels. The new labels have a more prominent best-before date, followed by a single number in brackets to indicate to store staff how many days prior to best-before the product should be displayed until. There are many other examples see Courtauld Commitment 1 Case Studies page 3

4 Improving storage at home The Co-operative Group are the first supermarket to print specific storage advice on loose fresh produce bags so that householders can see at a glance how they should keep different kinds of fruit and vegetables at their best. Morrisons are now implementing a similar scheme. Tesco have improved the on-pack labelling for their own brands and updated storage instructions to help increase customers understanding of how to keep products fresher for longer including bread, chilled foods and fresh produce. Morrison s have also introduced Best Kept useful guidance on how to keep fresh and leftover food for longer. This has included adding the best kept logo on many lines to remind customers of the best way to keep food fresh for longer, such as in the fridge or at room temperature. Sainsbury s have detailed fruit and vegetable storage information on their website as well as at point of sale. They have also added freezing guidance to their fresh herb packs, to ensure unused herbs don t go to waste. Providing inspiration The Co-operative Group have run a series of Watch your Waste events offering visitors information and advice on how to reduce their waste, and supported the launch of the Manchester Food and Drink Festival which was sponsored by Love Food Hate Waste. Tesco joined forces with the Hertfordshire Waste Partnership (WasteAware) in a series of Love Food Hate Waste focused roadshows around the county to encourage residents to make the most of the food they buy; keeping shopping bills down too. Waitrose have worked with teams from WRAP at various shows around the country, including their own Leckford Spring Food Festival to promote recycling and food waste reduction. Marks and Spencer too have supported major regional and local shows. Morrisons Best Kept logo example to remind customers how to keep food fresher for longer Waitrose has introduced a new lasting lettuce, guaranteed to last two days longer than traditional standard bags of leaves when opened as a result of a new washing method. page 4

5 What Local Authorities can do You could use this factsheet to help brief members and other council staff. If you would like to work with local retailers to promote food waste reduction messages please contact us for more information. For more information contact While steps have been taken to ensure its accuracy, WRAP cannot accept responsibility or be held liable to any person for any loss or damage arising out of or in connection with this information being inaccurate, incomplete or misleading. This material is copyrighted. It may be reproduced free of charge subject to the material being accurate and not used in a misleading context. The source of the material must be identified and the copyright status acknowledged. This material must not be used to endorse or used to suggest WRAP s endorsement of a commercial product or service. For more details, please refer to our Terms & Conditions on our website Waste & Resources Action Programme The Old Academy 21 Horse Fair Banbury, Oxon OX16 0AH Tel: Fax: info@wrap.org.uk Helpline freephone back home