Morrisons launches food waste campaign

Bolland told a Local Government Association Smith Square Debate in London last night that, while he “supported the packaging debate”, tackling food waste was a crucial issue from both a financial and environmental perspective.

He said food waste had “much more of an impact than packaging”, as it gave off three times as much carbon, and better use of food could save consumers £600 a year.

Morrisons is examing its products “on a case by case basis”, Bolland revealed, to be able to determine where packaging could be removed.

“Peppers don’t need packaging, but shrink-wrapping a cucumber increases its shelf-life. We are not going to use packaging where it’s not helpful, but a number of products will lose it,” he said.

Morrisons yesterday launched its Great Taste, Less Waste campaign where it will label products according to how best to store them. Initially the programme will be promoted through stickers, but eventually it will appear directly on the packaging.

Bolland added the retailer would use promotions like ‘one free to freeze’ to help consumers think more about the quantities they purchase. “We will also work to educate our customers about the difference between ‘best before’ and ‘use by’ dates through our website, leaflets and magazines,” he said.

The other speakers at the debate, which was titled “Is excessive packaging undermining the war on waste?”, were Ruth Bond, chair of the public affairs committee of the National Federation of Women’s Institutes, and Paul Bettison, chairman of the LGA’s environment board.

PRODUCTS TESTED IN 2008
Packaging maintained Organic apples, six-pack tomatoes, swede, white cabbage
Packaging changed (punnets to bags) Mangetout peas, pears, trimmed beans
Packaging removed Green, red and yellow peppers

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