Aldi has become the latest retailer to remove best before dates from around 60 of its own brand fruit and vegetable products to help tackle food waste.
As the UK’s leading discounter and fourth largest supermarket, the move forms part of Aldi’s commitment to reduce food waste by 20% by 2025 and halve it by 2030.
The range of fruit and veg includes apples, pears, citrus fruits, potatoes, carrots and onions, which could help households to save on food waste each year.
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As part of its food waste reduction programme, the supermarket has partnered with Neighbourly to donate 700,000 meals during the summer holidays.
It has also partnered with surplus food app Too Good To Go in some stores, which allows customers to buy products that are damaged or approaching their use-by date at a vastly reduced cost.
The exact contents of each £3.30 ‘Magic Bag’ remain unknown until they are collected, but each one is guaranteed to contain contain at least £10 worth of groceries.
The move to reduce food waste comes in the wake of supermarkets including Waitrose and M&S Food removing sell-by dates from their fresh fruit and veg in a bid to allow customers to trust their own judgement.
“One of the reasons we are the UK’s cheapest supermarket is because we cut down on waste wherever we see it,” Aldi UK corporate responsibility director at Aldi UK said.
“By getting rid of these dates on packaging, we can help customers get even better value by reducing the amount of food that goes to waste at home.
She added: “This latest step, together with our partnerships with Neighbourly and Too Good To Go, is all part of our efforts to provide affordable, sustainable and responsible products for all our customers.”
