November 01, 2016 Industry news
We’re pleased to support the Grocer’s Waste Not Want Not campaign against food waste
We’ve signed up to support the newly launched campaign by The Grocer, Waste Not Want Not, which aims to help battle food waste in the food and drink industry.
We recognise that food waste is an issue that’s affecting our environment, society and economy enormously on a global scale. And in the UK in particular, the problem is steadily increasing – UK supermarkets throw away 115,000 tonnes of perfectly good food each year, which equates to £230 million of edible food just going to waste.
That’s why we’re working closely with industry to help develop solutions to tackle the increasing problem of food waste. Our standards deliver a more efficient supply chain through improved inventory management and more accurate stock levels at the stores – resulting in less waste. But we can do more. GS1 DataBar, for example, can help improve the management of fresh foods in stores. These small barcodes enable more data, such as expiry dates, to be stored which can then be scanned at the point-of-sale. This allows stores to run automated promotions when food is close to its expiration date - resulting in stronger sales and less waste.
Many organisations have already pledged their support to The Grocer’s campaign – including Tesco, Aldi, Morrisons and Waitrose. We’re proud to join them. It’s clear that industry is coming together on this issue, and understands that by collaborating the results can be much more powerful and have a lasting impact. And we’re pleased to be part of this new campaign as collaboration is central to what we do.
Make sure you follow The Grocer's Waste Not Want Not campaign on Twitter via #wastenotwantnot.
Read what our CEO has to say about the global issue of food waste