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Supermarket bargains and food waste

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Food waste is a major global problem.  The UN estimates that one third of all food goes to waste.  Apart from the fact that this is happening in a world where many people don’t have enough to eat, food waste is both an economic and a climate problem.

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen and Southern Methodist University investigated how different types of grocery sales strategies affect people’s shopping and food waste.  The result was that bulk offers increase food sales by nearly 20%, but they also lead to increased food waste in people’s homes.

The study analyzed over 43,000 purchases of fresh vegetables in eight Swedish supermarkets.  When customers were offered “two-fer” offers, they bought significantly more than when only single items were available.  The attraction of a special offer can be strong.  But, according to a follow-up survey, food from bulk offers ended up in the trash more often.  People thought they were saving money, but often ended up buying more than they can eat.

The researchers tested two strategies for reducing overbuying.  One was to make the actual savings explicit by displaying the regular price next to the offer.  The second was to put a friendly reminder on the offer sign along the lines of “I’d love to come home with you if you eat me.”  Both of these approaches resulted in reduced sales of 9-11% compared to the original volume offer despite the sale price remaining the same. 

Clearly, small changes in marketing can make a big difference.  Supermarkets play a big role in the occurrence of food waste and they have the ability to help nudge consumers into better behavior.

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Good deals – bad for the climate: Supermarket volume discounts lead to food waste

Photo, posted November 13, 2006, courtesy of Josh Hallett via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Plastic food packaging

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Reducing the use of plastic is an important environmental goal.  Plastic is made from fossil fuels and plastic pollutes the land and the oceans.  It is estimated that 40% of plastic waste comes from packaging.  Plastic packaging is extremely common in the supermarket and there is a growing desire to reduce its use.  But it isn’t that easy.

Plastic packaging works well to slow the decay of vegetables and fruit.  Its use results in less produce being tossed into the garbage, where it creates almost 60% of landfill methane emissions.  In fact, food is the most common material in landfills.  The average American family of four spends $1,500 a year on food that ends up uneaten and nearly half of all household food waste is fruits and vegetables.

Products like bagged salads, berries in plastic clamshells, and plastic sealed potatoes and cucumbers are popular with shoppers because they stay fresh longer.  They are popular with grocers because the items don’t have to be weighed.  But all these things result in plastic waste.  It is a tradeoff that is difficult to make between food quality and safety vs. the environmental harm caused by plastic.

There are a variety of alternatives to plastic packaging of food that are being explored.  They range from biodegradable, organic coatings that can take the place of plastic films, to cardboard and paper produce packaging. 

But practically, there is yet no affordable and biodegradable plastic alternative that keeps fruits and vegetables safe and fresh.  Solving the food packaging problem is not easy.

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So Much Produce Comes in Plastic. Is There a Better Way?

Photo, posted July 1, 2007, courtesy of Brian via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

WAMC Northeast Public Radio

WAMC/Northeast Public Radio is a regional public radio network serving parts of seven northeastern states (more...)