Sainsbury’s has launched a new campaign to tackle food waste after customers told the supermarket they thought they threw away around 10 per cent of their weekly shop.
The supermarket is working in conjunction with Love Food Hate Waste to train staff at its counters to give customers practical tips and advice on how to reduce food waste.
It's also hoping to teach shoppers how to bin less food by identifying six types of people who waste food in different ways.
One quarter of the UK’s food wasters are ‘food phobics’ who throw away food on or before the best before date without checking if it’s ok to eat, the supermarket claims.
It says 11 per cent of us are ‘hungry hoarders’, who shop while peckish and are more likely to make impulse purchases.
Another key offender is the ‘ditsy diarist’, who currently makes up around nine per cent of the population. They do not consult their little black book before shopping and, as they eat out a lot or work late, much of what they buy gets thrown away, Sainsbury's says.
There’s also those who don’t check what their partner or housemate has bought and end up buying double. These culprits are known as ‘separate shoppers’.
However, the supermarket reveals there are those that are more careful about waste.
At the top of the list are ‘freezer geezers’ who love leftovers and use freezers to minimise waste and ‘conscientious consumers’ who also use leftovers.
Between them, freezer geezers and conscientious consumers make up 44 per cent of the population.
DEFRA Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Minister, Lord Taylor continues: "Too much food gets wasted, which is not only bad for the household budget, but also bad for businesses' bottom line. Since publishing the Waste Review we've introduced new guidance on food date labelling to help clear up confusion for customers and stop good food going to waste. We have also set up responsibility deals with the food industry to tackle waste in the supply chain and help them to save money.”
Jack Cunningham, Sainsbury's head of climate change and environment, said: "No one wants to waste food, but unpredictable lifestyles and hectic schedules mean many think it is unavoidable. By recognising which type of shopper they are, customers can learn to plan meals more effectively, cutting waste and reducing household costs."
Supporting analysis carried out by Wrap has revealed British shoppers are unnecessarily throwing away £12 billion worth of food a year.
It said if UK households tackled avoidable food waste, they would save an average of £50 a month.
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