M&S has now removed best before dates from fresh produce packaging in a bid to tackle food waste, both in store and in UK households.
After research from sustainability charity WRAP has shown that an estimated 6.6 million tonnes of food is thrown away by UK households every year, the supermarket retailer has announced that best before dates will be removed from the labelling of over 300 fruit and vegetable products – which accounts for 85% of its fresh produce offering.
This will include on commonly-wasted items like apples, potatoes, broccoli, and so much more.
Best before dates will now be replaced with a new code, which M&S staff will use to “ensure freshness and quality is maintained”.
The retailer says the change to packaging – which is being rolled out across all M&S stores in the UK from this week – is designed to “encourage customers to throw away less edible food at home” and urges people to “use their judgement”.
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The removal of best before dates is part of M&S’s pledge to halve food waste by 2030 – with 100% of edible surplus to be redistributed by 2025.
Cutting best before dates is one of several other steps the retailer is taking to reduce food waste, including having partnered with charity Neighbourly back in 2015 and donating over 44 million meals, which store teams work closely with local communities to ensure edible food surplus is redistributed, and launching the ‘Sparking Change’ challenge nationwide, which encourages customers to reduce food waste recipes using leftovers, as well as expert tips on batch cooking and storing food to make it last longer.
M&S has now removed best before dates from fresh produce packaging in a bid to tackle food waste / Credit: M&S
“We’re determined to tackle food waste,” said Andrew Clappen, Director of Food Technology at M&S.
“Our teams and suppliers work hard to deliver fresh, delicious, responsibly sourced produce at great value and we need to do all we can to make sure none of it gets thrown away [but] to do that, we need to be innovative and ambitious.
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“Removing best before dates where safe to do so, trialling new ways to sell our products, and galvanising our customers to get creative with leftovers and embrace change.”
He insisted that the retailer is aiming for its target of halving food waste, and will keep searching for solutions while still maintaining “the standards and value our customers expect.”
The retailer says the change is designed to “encourage customers to throw away less edible food at home” / Credit: M&S
WRAP says it’s “thrilled” that M&S is taking steps to reduce food waste.
“Removing dates on fresh fruit and veg can save the equivalent of seven million shopping baskets of food being binned in our homes,” added Catherine David, Director of Collaboration and Change at WRAP.
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“We urge more supermarkets to get ahead on food waste by axing date labels from fresh produce, allowing people to use their own judgement.”
Featured Image – M&S
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8 million Brits are predicted to write their Christmas cards using AI this year, new research finds
Emily Sergeant
Millions of Brits are predicted to use AI to help them write their Christmas cards this year.
According to some new Royal Mail research, AI is most likely to be used for researching gifts (19%), festive party ideas (13%), and decoration inspiration (13%) throughout this festive season, but in what is a revelation many will find surprising – and even alarming – it’ll even be used for the timeless tradition of sending Christmas cards.
2,000 UK adults who celebrate Christmas were surveyed by the postal service early last month on how they plan to make use of technology this festive season.
The new research found that 11% of respondents will be using AI to help write the messages for their Christmas cards, which works out to be around eight million people.
It’s the under-55s who are driving the trend, as you can probably imagine – with 57% of this age group planning to lean on AI for guidance, compared to just 14% of those over 55.
Oh, and you’ll want to keep an extra eye on the Christmas cards that come from the men in your life too, as men are 67% more likely than women to use AI to help them.
Eight million Brits are predicted to write their Christmas cards using AI this year / Credit: KoolShooters
Although it may be largely frowned upon, it’s fairly easy to see why people are turning to tech to find the right words, as the Royal Mail’s research found that nearly one in five (19%) Brits say they don’t know what to write in cards, and this figure rises even further to 31% when it comes to 18-24-year-olds.
Despite the use of AI as a helping hand, three quarters of Brits (74%) do still think it’s important to keep the tradition of sending handwritten Christmas cards alive.
“AI is becoming part of everyday life for many people,” says technology journalist and broadcaster, Georgie Barrat. “So it’s natural we’ll see it used during the festive season. When it comes to writing cards, it can help you go beyond a simple ‘Merry Christmas’ and choose words that feel more unique.
“Often, people know what they want to say – they just need a little help expressing it.”
Richard Travers, who is the Managing Director of Letters at Royal Mail, concluded: “No matter what you include in your card, or how you choose to write your message, cards are truly a way of spreading festive cheer.”
Featured Image – Richard Bell (via Unsplash)
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Manchester’s 2025 Christmas Parade in pictures as tens of thousands turn out for festive event
Emily Sergeant
Tens of thousands of residents flocked to the city centre this past weekend for Manchester’s annual Christmas Parade.
Over the past few years since it first took place in 2022, Manchester Christmas Parade has become a festive favourite with both locals and visitors alike, and with more than 400 participants and performers gracing the city’s main shopping streets this year, it’s really not hard to see why it’s a much-loved fixture in the city’s countdown to Christmas.
Seen by many as the heartwarming event of the festive season, Manchester Christmas Parade was even ‘bigger and better’ than last year’s fantastic crowdpleaser.
Even a drop of the classic Manchester rain didn’t stop play on the day, as the fabulous festive Parade made its way through the packed city streets to the smiles and cheers of all those watching.
Despite the Manchester weather, tens of thousands of you turned out to make Sunday’s Christmas Parade truly magical. 🎅 👼 🥁
A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for the heart-warming event of the season.
“I remember thinking at the end of our fabulous Manchester Christmas Parade last year that we would never be able to top it,” commented Cllr Pat Karney, Manchester City Council’s Christmas spokesperson. “But this year’s parade has been off-the-scale brilliant – it was so much fun and you could see how much all the children loved it.
“The city centre was heaving, it felt like millions of Mancs had turned out for the parade, and what a performance we put on for them.”
The streets were filled with music and laughter this year, as well as the return of Manchester’s very-own Elf Express, complete with VIP passenger Santa hitching a ride on his way to the North Pole, together with his trusty team of elves.
Tens of thousands of people turned out for Manchester Christmas Parade 2025 this past weekend / Credit: Manchester City Council
Not only that, but Nutcracker-inspired toy soldiers also sweept their way through the Parade on segways, alongside a roaming Christmas tree, a pair of gentle giant-sized reindeer, a stunning arctic fox, and Jack Frost himself.
Brand-new for this year will be the fantastic Festive Fantasy Candyland Castle, which stood over three-meters tall and truly was the stuff of fairytales.
“Manchester once again helped make the magic and the memories for a whole generation of families from across the city and beyond,” Cllr Karney concluded.
Emily Sergeant -
25th July 2022 
