“In a world in which a third of all food produced is either wasted or thrown away according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), France is a forerunner with its policies to reduce wastage, thanks in particular to the legislation it has brought in requiring supermarkets to redistribute unsold stock among charities"
The Economist.
Consumers, producers, retailers… we all have the power to reduce our waste and to recycle it more effectively. The zero-waste goal is not a utopian dream.
Delicious circular economy…
Items that cannot be donated or recovered by charities can also be given to companies which can then use them to create environmentally-friendly products. Sandrine Saveurs, a small business based in the Eure-et-Loir département, makes jams from overripe or damaged fruit that it collects from hypermarkets in the Ile-de-France region, for example. And the Brasserie de la Loire, near Saint-Etienne, picks up unsold stock from a neighbouring bakery in order to make a delicious craft beer from dry bread. Unsold stock can also be recycled and processed directly in supermarkets and hypermarkets. This is what happens with croissants and pains au chocolat which are given a second life on store shelves with almonds.
Is it (still) edible?
But for retailers such as Carrefour, the best way of tackling food waste is to more effectively manage stock and sell foodstuffs that are nearing their expiry dates, or getting close to when they taste the best by adopting an attractive markdown policy (knock-down prices, surprise baskets with the Too Good to Go charity, etc.). These short-expiry-date products need to be managed differently, however, depending on whether they are fresh produce or otherwise. The former (meat, fish, cooked meats, refrigerated ready meals, yoghurts, etc.) have "use-by dates", after which they may not be sold in stores. The others (dry cakes, tinned food, fizzy drinks, chocolate, etc.) are given "minimum durability dates", and feature the wording "best before…". Contrary to what some people think, these products are not unfit for human consumption after their minimum durability dates. This is just a date after which the product may gradually start to lose some of its nutritional qualities and taste.
more clarity, less waste
People having a poor understanding of minimum durability dates is responsible for 20% of all food wastage! Even though these products can be consumed and even legally sold after these dates. Carrefour is militating with anti-waste charities – such as Too Good to Go – to clarify the concept of food durability and replace "to be consumed preferably by…" with simpler wording such as "best before…". Some foodstuffs that can be kept for a long time – such as sugar, salt and certain confectionery – can even do without minimum durability dates and the European Union is now actually authorising brands to do away with expiry dates on these products. Many fresh products are also unjustly discarded. For yoghurts, for example, it is completely possible to extend their use-by dates without making any changes to the recipe or affecting their qualities…