Supermarkets | TableDebates

Image: Ruth Hartnup, Heirloom cherry tomatoes at Wholefoods, Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic

French food waste law changing how grocery stores approach excess food

Since 2016, French grocery stores have been banned from throwing away edible food. This story examines the effects of the new law. For example, donations to food banks have increased in quantity and quality.

Report: Farmers talk food waste: supermarkets’ role in crop waste on UK farms

A report from food waste charity Feedback investigates what role supermarkets play in the production of food waste on UK farms.

Image: Leslie Main Johnson, abundant harvest-local apples, Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic

Aldi pledges to halve food waste by 2030

Food retailer Aldi has joined the Champions 12.3 coalition, a multi-stakeholder group aiming to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of ‘halving per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels’ by 2030.

Photo: Sarah Meyer, Fridge, Flickr, CC by 2.0

Poll finds European retailers are optimistic about transition from HFCs but challenges remain

One year after the global Kigali amendment to phase-down hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), new survey findings from Emerson and international polling company ComRes examine how European retailers are navigating away from HFCs towards lower global warming alternatives.

Figure 1: Photo credit: Pete, Project 365 #193: 120713 Ugly Fruit?, Flickr, Creative Commons Licence 2.0

Consumer preferences for suboptimal food products in the supermarket and at home

This paper describes an online choice experiment to understand consumer preferences around best-before dates, appearance, and packaging of food products; the paper specifically studies the demand for discounted ‘suboptimal’ products in the supermarket, and consumers’ willingness to use them in the home.

Researchers propose expanding the UK traffic light food labelling to till receipts

Birmingham researchers propose that the UK food labelling which currently is used on individual products should be expanded to the level of an entire supermarket receipt. The ‘traffic light system’ shows the total data for calories, sugar, fat and salt in a person’s shop and highlights the total in a green, amber or red colour.

Sticky labels on fresh food can be replaced by laser marking

A new technology using a harmless laser beam can replace stickers on fresh food produce with a direct marking on the skin of a piece of fruit or vegetable. Named ‘Natural Branding’, the innovation could result in significant savings in sticker use as well as packaging. Nature and More, a Dutch organic food exporter, in collaboration with Swedish supermarket ICA is now using the branding on organic avocados and sweet potatoes.

Investors call for new business outlook on protein sourcing: more plants, less meat

A group of investors, worth $1.25 trillion, has contributed to a report calling for food companies to change the way in which they include protein in their products to reduce environmental risk. The FAIRR initiative’s report – The Future of Food: The Investment Case for a Protein Shake Up – argues that forward-looking investors and businesses should act now to help shape a new market in sustainable protein, with less of this macronutrient coming from animals, and more from plants (and perhaps from insects and algae).

Sweden’s supermarkets campaign to reduce meat consumption

In Sweden two of the largest supermarkets in the country have launched campaigns aimed at creating increased consumer awareness around the environmental impact of meat, encouraging consumers to lower their intake of meat and promoting plant-based alternatives.