Waitrose no best before dates ... helping their profits - not me ?

jpaul

jpaul

jpaul

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“By removing best before dates from our products, we want our customers to use their own judgement to decide whether a product is good to eat or not, which in turn, will increase its chances of being eaten and not becoming waste.”

The move is also part of Waitrose’s commitment to help shoppers reduce food waste at home.

The grocer is a signatory of Wrap’s food waste reduction roadmap, with a target to halve food waste by 2030.

Waitrose will work in partnership with Wrap to phase out the use of best before dates.

Wrap director of collaboration and change, Catherine David, said best before dates on fruit & veg were “unnecessary” and created food waste because they “get in the way of people using their judgement” when food is still good to eat.

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Use by dates will still be used across products for safety reasons.
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Not sure this is for consumer benefit, I think the strategy is to just sell more product of questionable/anonymous freshness.

they remove a short term bbf date, which you use when selecting the product on the shelves that gives some indication when your piece of chicken won't be slimey, and replace it with a use by date - if at all.
articles suggest products have both a best before and used by date, not in my experience (least ways glancing in fridge celery/cheese just have a bbf, milk has a use by only)

I'll be shopping elsewhere(not that I shop there much), or, just more likely to return stuff if it doesn't meet freshness I expect.

(This is like the bar-code scanners they provide to be helpful - it's proven that customers who use them have more product engagement - you've spent more time thinking about/handling the product, and buy more.)
 
I think it could back fire if they let quality slide by letting lower quality veg rot on shelves. I think many people use more than one shop, so it's easier to lose business.

Though there would need to be some quality control and discounted fruit/veg that is less fresh, otherwise you end up with a brand name that sells mouldy goods.
 
We do waste a lot of food, I read somewhere that it's upwards of half of all food produced is wasted. Whilst not revolutionary, it is a small step in the right direction.

It's really disheartening to read that it's 2022 and the hunger death toll is climbing towards 35 million people per year globally... and half our food is thrown away. :(
 
I can see it causing issues with delivery orders, your lucky to get more than a few days freshness as it is with a big date printed on the packaging. Now they'll have to use their discretion and pickers don't really have time for that.

A bigger discount on items nearing best before date would be fine, was in a store the other day and the reduced discount was so small that you might as well buy something longer dated. Put a decent price reduction on them and they'll fly out the store rather than going in the bin.
 
jpaul said:
Not sure this is for consumer benefit, I think the strategy is to just sell more product of questionable/anonymous freshness.

they remove a short term bbf date, which you use when selecting the product on the shelves that gives some indication when your piece of chicken won't be slimey, and replace it with a use by date - if at all.
articles suggest products have both a best before and used by date, not in my experience (least ways glancing in fridge celery/cheese just have a bbf, milk has a use by only)

I'll be shopping elsewhere(not that I shop there much), or, just more likely to return stuff if it doesn't meet freshness I expect.

(This is like the bar-code scanners they provide to be helpful - it's proven that customers who use them have more product engagement - you've spent more time thinking about/handling the product, and buy more.)
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Just LOL if you don't realise that you are the problem here. You can always try shopping elsewhere before this becomes the market norm and then I suppose air is free and doesn't go off?
 
[FnG]magnolia said:
What liability are they trying to avoid?
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Supermarkets do get in trouble for selling things beyond sale dates but use by is the one that gets them in deep water.

I'd have thought they'd still have the same responsibility to ensure food is safe for consumption even without the best before dates.

We finally have a thread for that moaning poster who works in a supermarket and he's nowhere to be seen :D
 
Puzzled said:
Supermarkets do get in trouble for selling things beyond sale dates but use by is the one that gets them in deep water.

I'd have thought they'd still have the same responsibility to ensure food is safe for consumption even without the best before dates.
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I understand the argument - it's false but I do understand it - but I'm not sure that Scougar does, or he's using words he's not familiar with.
 
best before and use by dates are completely different that’s the confusion. Best before is a judgement. It must be merited, but it simply means that the judgement is that the produce will be less representative of the best that the product might be, after the date.

Use by is literally that. Use it by the date. Or chuck it. Or don’t blame the seller if you die consuming it.

I agree with them removing best before dates on the basis that people confuse them with use by dates. I disagree with removing them because people who know the difference use them to gauge how long produce has been sat on a shelf.
 
opethian said:
We do waste a lot of food, I read somewhere that it's upwards of half of all food produced is wasted. Whilst not revolutionary, it is a small step in the right direction.

It's really disheartening to read that it's 2022 and the hunger death toll is climbing towards 35 million people per year globally... and half our food is thrown away. :(
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Well wasted by whom is the question, more of the waste comes from the shops and suppliers. The food I throw away are the ones that go off before the date, I either take it back for a refund or throw it away.
these days I have notice food going off faster. Change is always for the company, not the consumer.
 
Scougar said:
The liability of selling out of date food to consumers. https://www.newfoodmagazine.com/news/14140/new-uk-food-poisoning-figures-published/

The liability of being sued.
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Regulatory concerns would have been a better answer rather than the litigious angle but different countries and different appetites yadda yadda yadda (this is also a food joke, thank you). Do you see any good from this change in practice or are you being victimised, even though Waitrose do not have any stores in PA, USA (Orig UK)?
 
Mrwong said:
Well wasted by whom is the question, more of the waste comes from the shops and suppliers. The food I throw away are the ones that go off before the date, I either take it back for a refund or throw it away.
these days I have notice food going off faster.
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Wasted by you. You literally went on to answer your own question which is amazing but also worrying.
 
inogen said:
Use by is literally that. Use it by the date. Or chuck it. Or don’t blame the seller if you die consuming it.
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if you shop you know that depending how diligent you are on correct storage, dairy products can last way beyond use by date eg. decanting cheese/cream, or, returning milk to the fridge.
on the other hand vegetables which sit in a warm shop during summer time caulis/cabbages/carrots have a lot more variability on freshness, if you don't pay attention to selection you waste your money, or, if you fail to store them in the fridge. ... as he said V

Mrwong said:
The food I throw away are the ones that go off before the date, I either take it back for a refund or throw it away.
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[FnG]magnolia said:
but I'm not sure that Scougar does, or he's using words he's not familiar with
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just supermarket liability with respect to moral issue of food wastage ? I think his terminology is fine ...
but, if they are no longer going to provide a date, and it has gone off earlier than I expect I'll just return stuff/complain.
 
opethian said:
We do waste a lot of food, I read somewhere that it's upwards of half of all food produced is wasted. Whilst not revolutionary, it is a small step in the right direction.
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Then they could just afford to just drop prices across the board so they don't have to pay to dispose of the waste etc and ensure they sell it...
Personally I live alone, I'd imagine a large portion of Waitrose customers and M&S customers are also living alone considering the ages of the people who shop in these stores.

People who live alone need to know whatever they buy is going to last at least 2-3days+ or it's just wasted money.
Times are tough, people are trying to save money and all this scheme seems to do is push the shops waste into being other peoples waste.

If I'm buying 1kg of potatoes as a single person that is jacket spuds every day for a week almost.... I ain't risking no dates... in that case start selling spuds with dirt on them so they stay fresh like in the old days.

I bet they get healthy discounts on this old crap they will start flinging without dates but won't pass along the savings, quality is sure to go down, people will just go elsewhere hopefully until this nonsense ends.


if it's a family and who can get through all the veg/fruit in 1-3days no problem them, but the rest of us......
 
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