More bagged salad wasted than eaten

Tesco, the first major UK retailer to publish its own total food waste figures, claims that 68% of bagged salad is wasted and 35% of this waste occurs in the home.

As a first step in reducing this waste, Tesco has announced that it will end multi-buys on large bags of salad and will develop mix-and-match promotions for smaller bags in a bid to help customers reduce the amount they are wasting at home.

Bagged salad is just one of the 25 bestselling grocery products that Tesco has tracked from farm to fork to gain a detailed understanding of where food waste occurs.

Tesco’s figures also reveal:

• 40% of apples are wasted, with just over a quarter of that waste occurring in the home. Tesco is involved in trials with growers to reduce pests and disease, as well as giving customers simple tips on how to store apples to help them last longer.
• Just under half of bakery items are wasted. Tesco has changed how bakeries are run in over 600 stores to minimise waste and is sharing tips with customers about how to use leftover bread.
• A quarter of grapes are wasted between the vine and the fruit bowl, with the majority of that waste happening in the home. Tesco is working with producers to trial new varieties of grapes that have a longer life. It is also working directly with suppliers to shorten the time it takes food to get from the field to the store.
• A fifth of all bananas are wasted and one in ten bananas bought by customers end up in the bin. Tesco has introduced a new temperature control system to ensure bananas last longer in transportation and ‘Love Banana’ training for colleagues in store to show customers how to make them last longer.

Tesco’s data reveals that in the first six months of this year 28,500 tonnes of food waste were generated in stores and distribution centres. (The last figures published by WRAP in 2011 estimated that 15 million tonnes of food waste is generated per year in the UK).

Tesco is using the data to make changes to its own processes and to cut food waste. ‘Display until’ dates are being removed from fresh fruit and vegetables, smaller cases are being used in store and 600 bakeries in larger stores have been rearranged to reduce the amount of bread on display, leading to better stock control and less waste.

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