The waste is huge. Millions of tons of food go in the trash every year. And most of them are completely edible.
“Deutsche Welle“revealed what German supermarkets are doing with expiring food?”
About 12 million tons of expired food are dumped in Germany every year. In fact, most of them could be consumed without any harm to health.
By 2030, food waste in Germany is set to halve. But how accurate is that?
Are supermarkets to blame for everything?
But who throws away so much food every year? According to the German Ministry of Food and Agriculture, only four percent of the waste comes from retail outlets – most comes from restaurants and private households.
Each German loses an average of 75 kg. food products per year – mainly vegetables and fruits.
Many foods are also discarded during the harvest. About 40% of food products produced worldwide do not end up in consumer baskets, according to the environmental organization WWF.
Crooked carrots, strangely shaped apples and other vegetables and fruits without a good commercial appearance often do not reach the buyer. What would help reduce the amount of discarded products?
Appearance is not the most important thing
German farmers are increasingly distributing part of the harvest free of charge, which cannot be delivered to supermarkets due to its unusual appearance. Some set up cupboards near their farms so that passers-by can pick up vegetables or fruit for a token amount.
Others distribute their products on the market or collaborate with local initiatives to help the socially disadvantaged.
In Cologne, for example, there is a specialty store that sells expired food, yesterday’s bread and strangely shaped fruits and vegetables. Buyers can determine the price themselves, as the goal of the project is not to make a profit, but to save food.
The first branch of The Good Food in Cologne was opened in 2017, now there are three.
Measures against food waste
Supermarkets are deciding how to reduce the waste of food that has almost expired. The Edeka chain, for example, intends to improve storage conditions for goods to dispose of less.
They are already using new technology for packaging certain types of fruit, thanks to which the products can remain available to the customer for longer.
Another supermarket chain is taking initiatives to stimulate demand for more durable products so that they sell out faster. There are other measures against food waste.
Supermarkets donate unsold food to charities or resell it at a big discount. Non-commercial fruits, cabbage leaves or bananas that have not found a buyer are displayed in some branches in special boxes labeled “for pets”. And can be taken for free.
Another supermarket chain in Germany – REWE – also provides expired products to charity. In some of the shops there are shelves from which food can be taken for free.
There are other retail chains that offer goods for free, but prefer not to talk about it in public – probably because they do not want to lose part of their profits because of those who want to get food for free.
Shelf life
The Penny chain sells good quality but poor quality fruits and vegetables under the Bioheroes brand. There are also dairy products with the inscription: “smell, try, enjoy” – in order to convince people that there is nothing wrong with consuming a cheese that expires in a few days.
As a rule, the recommended shelf life is indicated on the packaging of products in Germany, not the expiry date. Therefore, there have been disputes for several years over allegations that this is misleading buyers by making them think that the product has expired.
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