Carrefour best before

French retailer Carrefour has revealed that it is marking World Food Day on 16 October by joining forces with food waste start-up Too Good To Go.

The aim is to reduce the amount of food that goes to waste, which is line with the retailer’s Act for Food programme.

In 2014, Carrefour was the first retailer to look to tackle the issue of “consume by” or “sell by” dates, which are often misunderstood by consumers and are responsible for around 20 per cent of household food waste.

Back then, the retailer extended the “consume by” dates on 400 fresh and grocery products. Carrefour is now testing out new wording regarding its products’ shelf-life to better advise consumers.

It is also supporting Too Good To Go’s #ChangeTaDate petition, appealing to consumers to sign and share the petition on Change.org.

To understand how best to adapt the wording of such dates, Carrefour is consulting with consumers on social media, who will get to choose between various proposals.

Carrefour is also campaigning to revise the European legislation surrounding these dates, and to change “A consommer de preference avant” to a simplified “Best before”.