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Original poster

To wonder just how much perfectly good food tesco sell as "waste"

58 replies

LEMisdisappointed · 26/05/2013 16:51

Was shopping in tesco today - I always check out the reductions, especially if i happen to be there at the end of the day. So, the guy has a big pile of those fresh fruit salad mixes you can get from the fresh fruit department. I thought I would grab a few for DD - but no, i couldnt have them. Why? They had run out of reduced stickers - Shock I asked what they would do with them - throw them away as waste Hmm The guy then instructed the other guy to throw anything that would be reduced out as waste due to the lack of stickers!!

Was pissed off, the guy made me feel like a pain in the arse scrounger. Err, no, i like a bargain and i dont like the thought of perfectly good food going to waste.

WTAF???

OP posts:
Original poster
LEMisdisappointed · 26/05/2013 16:52

um, not sell as waste, obviously - throw away as waste - sometimes i wonder if my fingers are independant of my brain!!!

OP posts:
StuffezLaYoni · 26/05/2013 16:58

When I was doing A levels I worked on the deli counters at Tesco. The amount of perfectly good food that was hoyed out because managers wouldn't let us reduce it by more than a small fraction. Once I had to throw a whole ham on the bone as it had been lingering in the back of a chiller and was a week out of date. Bet it would have been ok though.
I never understood those managers - surely it was better someone bought the items, rather than them being wasted?!

Original poster
LEMisdisappointed · 26/05/2013 17:00

Not sure id want to eat ham that was a week out of date tbh, but this was fruit that would have been ok for at least a couple of days!!

OP posts:
HoHoHoNoYouDont · 26/05/2013 17:02

Food waste is criminal and really needs to be addressed.

Souredstones · 26/05/2013 17:04

Can it not be sold to food banks at a token price? Would solve so many problems. Campaign ahoy?

HoHoHoNoYouDont · 26/05/2013 17:05

Definitely a campaign to be had souredstones

StuffezLaYoni · 26/05/2013 17:06

I would have risked it, as it was totally shrink wrapped, but I didn't mean particularly the ham should have been eaten, I just kind of meant it was needlessly wasted through crap rotation.
You're right, it's not on to waste so much when people are literally counting the coppers in their purses to see what they can cobble together.

HoHoHoNoYouDont · 26/05/2013 17:07

There are starving people in the world living next to fields full of grain being grown to feed us and the cattle we rear to eat. Throwing away food like this does nothing to support world poverty, let alone the poverty on our own doorstep.

It's all about profit and it's wrong.

BrokenBanana · 26/05/2013 17:08

It's the same in a lot of shops. No idea why it can't be given to the homeless, would make more sense

usualsuspect · 26/05/2013 17:10

Don't blame it all on Tesco, they are only abiding by the law.

The whole sell by date thing needs looking at imo.

Tooearlyintheday · 26/05/2013 17:12

Wonder why it's just Tesco that gets a hard time on this forum? All the supermarkets follow basically the same routines. Admittedly they could've left the items to sell at full price but then you would've got pissed off customers complaining about getting nearly out of code produce. What exactly would you have liked them to do?

Original poster
LEMisdisappointed · 26/05/2013 17:13

usualsuspect, that is true, i agree with you - but today it was because they had run out of reduced stickers rather than the food being past the sell by date! That is what made me Angry Especially as five minutes before, it was sold at the original price!

OP posts:
Tooearlyintheday · 26/05/2013 17:13

Hohoho this routine isn't about profit, there's no profit to be made in dumping produce, it's a legal requirement.

usualsuspect · 26/05/2013 17:13

Shops can get massive fines for selling out of date food.

Shops don't make the laws.

Original poster
LEMisdisappointed · 26/05/2013 17:14

Tooearly I can't moan about ASDA if i was shopping in Tesco can i?

What i would have liked them to do was a) not run out of reduced stickers or b) give the stuff away to those who need it.

OP posts:
usualsuspect · 26/05/2013 17:14

I agree that running out of stickers is a bit crap though.

I love a bargain.

Original poster
LEMisdisappointed · 26/05/2013 17:15

The food wasn't out of date - it will be tomorrow i suppose but thats not the point, the reason they wasn't selling it was because they had run out of reduced stickers! or did you not read what i typed?

OP posts:
Original poster
LEMisdisappointed · 26/05/2013 17:16

me too usual - I have been known to enter the scrum when the reduction trolley comes out - its better than harrods sales i tell ya!

OP posts:
HoHoHoNoYouDont · 26/05/2013 17:16

If food is being dumped then I would question over production.

Original poster
LEMisdisappointed · 26/05/2013 17:16

cross posts1

OP posts:
Tooearlyintheday · 26/05/2013 17:18

But who would you like them to give out of date food to? I'd imagine they'd be hard pushed to find a charity at short notice on a Sunday evening to come and collect produce that is going out of date tomorrow. In fact as far as I'm aware most charities don't accept really short dates food especially fresh food. As for running out of labels someone in store will get a telling off for that but these things happen in every business I would imagine.

JazzDalek · 26/05/2013 17:19

The thought of the sheer amount of food that must get thrown away in the manner every day makes me shudder.

I wish they would do better reductions when things are on their use-by date. My local supermarkets seem only to reduce by 50p or so. I used to live near a Morrisons and their reductions were ace - I'd go at the end of the day and get veg for 5p, 10p, or meat for a pound or two. Seems better than throwing good food out because you've only reduced it by pennies Hmm

Tooearlyintheday · 26/05/2013 17:20

Then to answer your question I would say very little food is put to waste because of the lack of reduction stickers. If the store is consistently running out of labels somebody would be looking at disciplinary action and possibly even dismissal.

Leeds2 · 26/05/2013 17:21

I understand the shops have to abide by the rules, but it just seems so sad to throw good food away. I would have thought that maybe a member of staff could have given them away to some lucky people as they left the store. Wouldn't take more than 5 minutes, and at least then some of it would be enjoyed.

usualsuspect · 26/05/2013 17:24

My local co op does great reductions.

especially on the bakery products. I know what time to go shopping there Grin