Carrefour has revealed that it has lengthened the best-before and/or use-by dates of 400 of its private label SKUs in order to cut down on food waste.
It has described itself as “the only retailer to have taken the initiative and lengthen these dates.”
In 2013, the retailer set the objective of recycling the entirety of its in-store waste, as well as outlining a goal to shrink its food waste by 50 per cent by 2025.
“By forming partnerships with local food aid organisations - with Banques Alimentaires, Secours Populaire Français, Restos du Coeur and cooperative grocery stores, etc. - Carrefour warehouse and store teams coordinate the donation of products on a daily basis that have been withdrawn from shelves but are still edible”, Carrefour says.
In the case of products that are unsafe for human consumption, the retailer “implements a range of biowaste solutions.”
“In France, wilted flowers, unsold fish parts, badly damaged fruit or vegetables and kitchen waste are collected and transformed into biogas and then into biomethane. This is used to fuel the lorries that supply Carrefour stores and has a neutral environmental impact. In Poland, this same waste is composted, providing fertile organic matter.”
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Peter Donnelly. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
