Why do supermarkets throw away perfectly good sandwiches which those in need could have?

[Herr Tubthumper]

Plenty of ambitious young lawyers willing to take on a case in the hope of it generating publicity and making them a name to remember.

I struggle to see how any judge would side with someone who knowingly took an out of date sandwich and had food poisoning. And even if they did it wouldn't get through on appeal.

And besides, there are companies which donate waste food. None have been sued to my knowledge.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Is the correct answer - all about profit not H&S.

I'd agree with this.

 

[vegster]

Judging by the behaviour of certain customers in both the Hove and Holmbush Tesco stores when the staff bring out the 'final reduction' items, I'm not surprised lots of stores think it isn't worth the hassle. Some people have no shame! Always fancied being an employee for a day just so I could have a game of trying to give heavily reduced items to anyone except the regulars!

Not a regular at any Tesco but saw this once in Tesco Ellesmere, a sleepy Shropshire market town....5th biggest economy in the world and people were windmilling in to get packets of cheap whatever like Seagulls round a bin bag.. Frightening.

 

[Bakero]

Ambulance chasers. Where there's blame, there's a claim.

Plenty of ambitious young lawyers willing to take on a case in the hope of it generating publicity and making them a name to remember.

Has anyone ever sued a supermarket in a case like this?

 

[BensGrandad]

I just went to a co op branch in Worthing ( I won't name the branch ) and one of the staff was filling up a trolley with sandwiches from the shelf, all with reduced stickers on. I asked where they they were going? Apparently, they're all thrown away.

They were reduced to £1.19 each and there was about 20 of them.

I said I'll give you a fiver for the lot ( seeing as you're throwing them away ) and cycle down Worthing town centre and seafront and give to the homeless down here.( yes, I do know where they congregate, I used to be one ).

I was told that they have to sell at that price or throw them away. They can't give them to the homeless, or indeed sell at less that on the current reduced price Why not??

I've seen exactly this happen before at a petrol station in Findon valley that has a supermarket franchise.

Does anyone know why they have to do this?

I was told by the manager of the bakers next to my pub that they had to do it to ensure people bought stuff at the correct price and avoid them waiting to buy it cheaply.

 

[Bozza]

That would be correct, can't remember ever reducing anything to anything under about 40-50% of its original price, was limited by a handset which decided the price and then would print off a bar code to go on sed item. I must confess to not knowing to where the produce went after it had been binned, never asked what the policy was on that.

It's not the case with Tesco. They have set times throughout the day when greater reductions are applied to produce in order to shift it. I've bought stuff for a few pennies in a store now and again when I've just happened to be in there late in the evening.

That said, only this past week I wondered what they do with all the fresh bakery produce in the big West Durrington Tesco. I was doing the weekly shop in there quite late on Thursday evening and there was none at all. I fully suspect that they just bag it all up and bin it.

 

[Taybha]

I just went to a co op branch in Worthing ( I won't name the branch ) and one of the staff was filling up a trolley with sandwiches from the shelf, all with reduced stickers on. I asked where they they were going? Apparently, they're all thrown away.

They were reduced to £1.19 each and there was about 20 of them.

I said I'll give you a fiver for the lot ( seeing as you're throwing them away ) and cycle down Worthing town centre and seafront and give to the homeless down here.( yes, I do know where they congregate, I used to be one ).

I was told that they have to sell at that price or throw them away. They can't give them to the homeless, or indeed sell at less that on the current reduced price Why not??

I've seen exactly this happen before at a petrol station in Findon valley that has a supermarket franchise.

Does anyone know why they have to do this?

You still hungry ? i brought down enough sausages to sink the bismark saturday x

 

[smeg]

Has anyone even sued a supermarket in a case like this?

Possibly not but it's all about risk and profit, why take a chance if you can just throw it away.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

From Tesco website

https://www.tescoplc.com/tesco-and-society/reducing-food-waste/food-waste-and-surplus-in-our-own-operations/

We have made a commitment that no surplus food will be wasted in our UK operations by 2017. Additionally, by 2020 we will offer food surplus for donation from all our central European stores
The nature of our business means that there is always some surplus food that we have stocked but have not been able to sell. We try to minimise this surplus, for example by reducing the price of foods close to their expiry date. However, if food cannot be sold, we offer it where possible to those in need by donating to charities.
Feeding people in need

In our UK distribution centers and online grocery centres we divert all surplus fresh food, including meat and produce, to support food redistribution charity FareShare.
Again working with FareShare as well as FoodCloud, we have developed a programme so that we can donate surplus food from our stores too. Called Community Food Connection, Tesco colleagues can alert local charities to the amount of surplus food they have at the end of each day by using the FareShare FoodCloud app. The charity then confirms it wants the food, picks it up free of charge from the store and turns it into meals for those in need.
Community Food Connection is being rolled out across all UK stores by the end of 2017.
Zero food waste to landfill

We have achieved zero food waste direct to landfill since 2009. Bakery surplus which we are unable donate this to charity is converted into animal feed for livestock. Additionally, our chicken fat and cooking oil is converted into bio-diesel. Where all other options are not available, we recover energy from food waste through anaerobic digestion or incineration.
Food surplus in our international stores

We run a food surplus donation programme in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. More than 280 stores across central Europe are already donating surplus food to local charity food bank partners. Our commitment is to offer food surplus for donation from all Central European stores by 2020.
In October 2016 we started trialling the use of a new food surplus donation application called the Robin Food application in Thailand. Similar to the FareShare FoodCloud app, The Robin Food application can alert local food bank partners the amount of food surplus we have each day. We are currently exploring opportunities to expand the scope of our food surplus donation programmes in Asia.
Our food waste data

In May 2014 we became the first UK retailer to publish data about food waste in our own operations for a full financial year. To ensure we are open and honest about what we do, we continue to publish our own UK operations food waste data annually.

2015/16	59,400 tonnes
2014/15	57,100 tonnes
2013/14	57,100 tonnes

These figures refer to our UK operations only and are independently assured by KPMG. Further information on how we calculate these can be found here.

 

[BensGrandad]

Wasnt there a similar thread from Harty about the food left after he attended a wake and he suggested the same but was refused due to H & H rules.

 

[wellquickwoody]

Has anyone ever sued a supermarket in a case like this?

I would not know. But the current state of thinking in life is to ensure that you do not give anyone the opportunity to do so, a sad state of affairs.

 

[The Clamp]

There's a bakery in Shoreham that throws away massive bags of buns, bread and fancies on a daily basis. Just bins the lot. It is exactly 45 paces away from Shoreham food bank.
Criminal.

 

[Pickles]

Wasnt there a similar thread from Harty about the food left after he attended a wake and he suggested the same but was refused due to H & H rules.

I can understand that, what with that type of finger buffet being left exposed for hours, but with sandwiches though that's surely not the case as they've been brought through the chill chain and are in sellophane boxes.

I also understand that supermarkets don't want hoards of bargain hunters fighting it out at closing time. But surely these could be given to an official network of homeless charities at a given time.

I'm siding with the thought that it's all about profit.

 

[The Birdman]

I knew a fella who became a millionaire selling out of date microwave ready meals to Eastern Europe had contracts with a few of the major supermarkets.

Sounds like Wetherspoons

 

[The Birdman]

My bakery used to give bread for the soup to the Brighton night shelter and had to stop because health and safety . What a waste

 

[The Albion Roar]

All the unsold pies, sausage rolls, beer etc. at the Amex are binned at the end of a matchday.

 

[BensGrandad]

Sounds like Wetherspoons

Contrary to the much publicised myth Wetherspoons do not sell anything that is out of date

 

[BensGrandad]

All the unsold pies, sausage rolls, beer etc. at the Amex are binned at the end of a matchday.

So they should be as they have been reheated at least once. The alternative is at a pre arranged time, unknown to the punters, just give them away.

 

[WonderingSoton]

Worked in a supermarket for 2 1/2 years in the 00s, was always told it had to be chucked away due to the risk of prosecution / H&S risks if the food caused illness.

 

[Laptop Ell]

What about Ann Summers stores at the end of the day?

Are you able to purchase discounted "items" ?