FDBusiness.com

UK supermarkets have hit back at yesterday’s report from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers claiming households throw away half the food they buy and supermarket promotions and reluctance to stock produce that is not visually attractive are part of the cause

Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium (BRC), said: “A government-sponsored report published last year showed there was no link between promotions and food waste.

“The main method of promotions in this area is cutting the price rather than buy-one-get-one-free offers, which are rare.

“Retailers want to help customers make their money go further. They’ve also adopted a range of approaches to help people make the best use of the food they buy, including giving clear storage advice and recipe ideas, and offering a wider range of portion sizes.

“Using more of the crop to cut food waste and increase sustainable production is an objective for all retailers. This is how we are exceeding government targets for food waste.

“It was supermarkets that lobbied Europe to relax strict marketing rules on fruit and veg to allow us to sell more misshapen produce.

“This has led to an enormous increase in the sale of ‘wonky’ veg as highlighted this Christmas.”