Iceland to now give away unsold food for free in efforts to ‘reduce waste’
Iceland has made the decision to give away items to customers for free on the last day of their shelf life.
The budget supermarket has said it has made the decision to give items away to online customers in a bid to reduce food waste.
According to Iceland, its ‘Free on Last Day of Life’ initiative could see more than 1.3 million items worth £500,000 a year now given away to be eaten, instead of going in the bin unsold, and all groceries delivered by Iceland have previously promised to have a shelf life of a minimum of two days.
The initiative has been launched across 1,000 sites up and down the country, following a positive initial trial in 40 stores that saw over 17,000 items given away free of charge.
Customers on average also saw a refund of around £1.58 as a result of the initiative, it has been reported.
The way the initiative works is that when an item is ordered by a customer and is due to go out on the same day as its due date, the customer will be made aware that the item will be free – and it shall be placed in their basket as normal.
Bread, cakes, morning goods, chilled and fresh food is all included in the scheme, which aims to help the supermarket be more sustainable.
Iceland Foods managing director, Richard Walker, said: “Reducing food waste is a huge priority for us as we continue to reduce our impact on the environment [and] we know that shelf life plays a big role in the creation of surplus food so we to have find an innovative way to combat this within our stores and via our online shopping.
“Our Free on Last Day of Life scheme not only helps reduce food waste but also supports our customers.
“We know cost is key to many of our shoppers and this new initiative allows us to offer them the opportunity to reduce their weekly shopping bills as well as helping to reduce food waste.”
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