Tesco says it is to give food away for free in a bid to cut food waste. Any food that is about to go out of date will be marked with a yellow label and given away, the supermarket says.
The new system will be tested in a number of Express stores. Items will be marked with the ‘free’ stickers after 9.30pm. Tesco says it will continue to give food to charities as well, and staff will also have access to discounted food.
Tesco said the move would allow it to ‘continue with our drive to reduce food waste within our own operations’, The Telegraph reports. It comes as Tesco aims to be ‘carbon neutral’ by 2035 and net zero by 2050 – reducing food waste, packaging and other environmentally damaging areas.
At the minute, shops use yellow labels to show that food has been heavily discounted in a bid to sell it fast – typ[icsally because of short sell-by dates or because of damage to packaging.
Tesco reduced emissions across its business by 61% between 2015 and 2013. A spokesmansaid: “We’ve done this by using energy and refrigeration more efficiently, and by adopting 100% renewable electricity across the Group.”
On the new free food deal, a spokesman said: “We are constantly looking for innovative new ways to reduce food waste. This trial, in a small number of our Express stores, will allow customers to take any remaining yellow stickered items for free at the end of the day, after they have first been offered to charities and colleagues.”