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What do supermarkets do with unsold food |
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#1 |
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Join Date: Nov 2010
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What do supermarkets do with unsold food
Hello DS,
I’m curious to know if anyone has any idea of what happens to fruit/veg and meat when it goes past the sell-by date. I know some of it gets marked down but if it still doesnt sell, what happens to it after that? I did a bit of searching online but most of the info I found was outdated (ie news articles from a couple years ago). Do supermarkets just bin the stuff?? Or are there more modern practices in place to reduce/reuse waste?? |
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#2 |
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: The Sunny Side Of The Street
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Some products they give away to poor people.
Some products they donate to zoos. |
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#3 |
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Leeds
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M&S sell the out of date items to staff at a quarter price. If this has already been reduced during the day then effectively that's one eighth the original price. The remaining items used to go to a local pig farmer but this was stopped for one reason or another. Currently waste food goes to be composted.
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#4 |
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Join Date: May 2010
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They fling it.
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#5 |
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Join Date: Dec 2008
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As we all could see, or could have seen, in The Great British Waste Menu, most of the unsold products are just binned.
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#6 |
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I think the policy is enacted locally but head offices encourage the stores to dump it.
They don't like giving it to charity as they fear sales will be effected by staff purposefully not selling stuff or customes not buying in the knowledge it will go to a good cause. |
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#7 |
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Quote:
M&S sell the out of date items to staff at a quarter price. If this has already been reduced during the day then effectively that's one eighth the original price. The remaining items used to go to a local pig farmer but this was stopped for one reason or another. Currently waste food goes to be composted.
) of the reasons to work for M&S. Last night I picked up some chicken, lamb, rice, prawns, and a few other bits for just over a fiver. Hoping I can pick up a few more bits tonight,When I used to work for another rival supermarket, I used to do the waste, and the amount I had to throw away was disgusting, about three carrier bags each time. There were about 14 packets of rolls, in good condition, which I said to my boss they should go in the staffroom, and the staff can have them for free, but he told me to just throw them away
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#8 |
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I went passed a Eat sandwich shop the other night and piled outside the door with bags full of sandwiches and salads. The homeless were flocking around it.
So I guess they dont sell anything that is left over for the next day. |
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#9 |
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Join Date: Jul 2009
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don't they ever just shove another sell by date on it.
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#10 |
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I used to live and work with a charity for the homeless and we would go to the local Marks and Spencers once a week to collect their out of date stuff.
Most of it was bread with the odd luxury meal such as lobster thermidor.. Most of the really good stuff had already been brought at discount by the staff. |
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#11 |
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Quote:
Most of it was bread with the odd luxury meal such as lobster thermidor..
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#12 |
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Join Date: Aug 2009
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They chuck in huge bins outside at the back so people can go and help themselves.
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#13 |
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When I asked at my local lidls if I could take some spoiled cucumbers for my pigs, I was told that all spoiled, off, and out of date products get shipped back to the distribution centre.
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#14 |
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My local lidl put sell by date food on the packing shelf behind the checkouts.
I rememeber when I went in for the first time and only bought 1 or 2 items and the checkout guy said there was free food on the shelf. I got two packs of sausages, two ready meals and 2 pints of milk for free
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#15 |
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Quote:
They chuck in huge bins outside at the back so people can go and help themselves.
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#16 |
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Join Date: Oct 2010
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Tesco's somtimes sell donoughts for 18p.
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#17 |
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Quote:
Tesco's somtimes sell donoughts for 18p.
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#18 |
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Join Date: Aug 2005
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If it's out of code, it's disposed of in a skip which is meant to be locked.
I guess it depends on the retailer though. I know we certainly don't give anything away to the poor or anyone else for that matter. It's put in a massive skip the size of a shipping container & then squashed by a compacter. It smells absolutely awful. |
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#19 |
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Quote:
don't they ever just shove another sell by date on it.
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#20 |
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Quote:
My local lidl put sell by date food on the packing shelf behind the checkouts.
I rememeber when I went in for the first time and only bought 1 or 2 items and the checkout guy said there was free food on the shelf. I got two packs of sausages, two ready meals and 2 pints of milk for free ![]() I worked for Lidl years back, and everything was just written down, then thrown into bins, maybe things have changed now, but the skips were just open, and people could raid them if they so desired |
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#21 |
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Quote:
don't they ever just shove another sell by date on it.
Though I may or may not (ahem) have seen items such as potatoes transferred to another container holding a longer date. I'm half in favour of doing such things within reason. It's ridiculous giving root vegetables sell by dates. |
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#22 |
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Join Date: Jun 2007
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ASDA's just chuck all their stuff, not even allowed/or try to sell it to staff, even though it's perfectly fine.
Sainsbury's (used to anyway) sell it to staff for pennies |
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#23 |
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Join Date: Nov 2010
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Quote:
This is one(just one
) of the reasons to work for M&S. Last night I picked up some chicken, lamb, rice, prawns, and a few other bits for just over a fiver. Hoping I can pick up a few more bits tonight that sounds great. and the stuff tastes good? its safe to eat?I think its pretty appaling that there doesnt seem to be much that supermarkets are doing to reuse/recycle waste, or even better reduce it.. I guess though, if they ordered less stuff, people would complain when there wasnt enough stock to go around. I like the idea of food being sent to zoos but it seems like theres way more waste than there are zoos. what about using food waste as biofuels? is there anything the consumer can do to discourage supermarket waste? it seems all we can do is cut down on our own personal waste. or maybe write letters, but I doubt tesco/sainsburys would care that a handful of people are concerned about food waste :/ |
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#24 |
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Quote:
that sounds great. and the stuff tastes good? its safe to eat? |
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#25 |
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Quote:
Goes down a treat with an unpretentious White Lightening cider, I am told.
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) of the reasons to work for M&S. Last night I picked up some chicken, lamb, rice, prawns, and a few other bits for just over a fiver. Hoping I can pick up a few more bits tonight,
that sounds great. and the stuff tastes good? its safe to eat?