The supermarket will remove the dates from about 60 fresh fruit and vegetable lines, including apples and pears, citrus fruits, potatoes, carrots and onions.
Liz Fox, corporate responsibility director at Aldi UK, said: “One of the reasons we are the UK’s cheapest supermarket is because we cut down on waste wherever we see it and 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.”
Surplus food
Aldi has also partnered with surplus food app Too Good To Go in some stores, which will see products that are approaching their use-by date collated into ‘Magic Bags’ containing at least £10 worth of groceries that which customers can buy £3.30 each via the Too Good To Go app.
“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,” Fox added.
As part of its food waste reduction programme, the supermarket has partnered with Neighbourly to donate 700,000 meals during the summer holidays. These moves all formed part of Aldi’s commitment to reduce food waste by 20% by 2025 and halve it by 2030.
Removing best before dates
Aldi is following in the footsteps of a number of retailers that have removed use by dates from their food and drink products in a bid to reduce waste.
In January, Morrisons announced plans to scrap use-by dates on its own-label milk packaging by the end of January, in a bid to prevent waste.
Meanwhile, more than 40 food and drink brands have signed up to an initiative – ‘The look, Smell, Taste. Don’t Waste Campaign’ – to move away from use by labels in an effort to encourage consumers to use their senses to assess the quality of their food.
Food firms signed up to the initiative now include Arla, Bel Group, Danone, Emmi UK, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Savencia and Yeo Valley Organic.
