News

29 Mar 2019

Lidl launch ‘damaged’ food boxes to reduce food waste

Lidl has launched a 'damaged' fruit and vegetable box for £1.50 in an effort to eliminate food waste across its stores.

The boxes, which differ from wonky veg, are filled with fruit and veg from stores which have become slightly damaged, discoloured or deteriorated, but are still good to eat.

The industry-first initiative is designed to reduce fruit and veg waste in store and has already eliminated 250 tonnes of food waste.

The ‘Too Good To Waste’ boxes have been rolled out across all of its stores in England, Scotland and Wales following a successful trial.

Through the trial, which was launched in August and gradually extended to 122 stores, the supermarket has sold more than 50,000 boxes. Any leftover boxes are given to charity through the retailer's surplus food redistribution programme, Feed it Back.

Instead of pricing down produce that is considered ‘wonky’, Lidl works with its suppliers to ensure a degree of flexibility with specifications at different times of the year, to include items within its standard product lines.

In 2017, the retailer committed to cutting food waste by 25% per store by 2020 and also committed to the Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDG) 12.3 target of 50% by 2030.

It comes as farmers, along with the UK's largest retailers and manufacturers, commit to new milestones laid out in the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap.

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