Tesco offers free food to shoppers to tackle food waste

Tesco is set to give free food to shoppers in a bid to cut its food waste.

The supermarket is rolling out “yellow sticker” prices of £0 for food products that are about to go out of date, The Telegraph reported. The grocer’s discounts are currently typically limited to 90%.

The company’s bosses are trialling the move in a small number of its Express stores for customers visiting after 21:30pm, as part of a trial designed to reduce food waste under its net zero targets.

Although Tesco aims to donate its unsold groceries to charities, some of it has been used to generate gas which can be burned for energy, counting as waste.

In an internal memo viewed by The Telegraph, the grocer said it would still be donating some goods to charities, and that staff would be given priority for its yellow sticker products which had been reduced earlier in the day.

Any food still remaining in stores during the run-up to closing that is marked “Reduced to Clear” will be offered to shoppers for free.

Speaking to staff, the grocery giant said the trial would enable it to “continue with our drive to reduce food waste within our own operations”.

Tesco said it expected its shops to be throwing away less products at the end of the day after the changes.

The move comes after the supermarket was made to issue revised figures on the progress it had made on reducing food waste last February, after it was revealed a food waste processor it had been working with was using its food for anaerobic digestion, generating gas which can be burned as fuel.

Tesco has since ended its partnership with the company involved.

A Tesco spokesman said: “We are constantly looking for innovative new ways to reduce food waste. In all our stores we offer unsold surplus food to charities and community groups, donating millions of meals each month.

“This trial, in a small number of our Express stores, will allow customers to take any remaining yellow stickered items for free at the end of the day, after they have first been offered to charities and colleagues.”

In September, Tesco announced it was opening a new facility that turns surplus food into animal feed, which had the capacity to process 1,000 tonnes of excess food each week.

Speaking to The Grocer, the business claimed the move could help “revolutionise” how the food industry tackled waste.

In March 2024, Tesco was also among more than 30 food businesses that called for government action to tackle food waste.

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