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One of the island's biggest supermarket chains is removing the sell-by dates from its own-brand products in a move to help reduce food waste - but yellow stickers will be sticking around.
Kicking off the initiative with its own-brand dairy products and desserts, Channel Islands Coop shoppers will no longer see a date of expiry on the products but will instead be able to ‘judge’ on their own terms the quality of the product before purchasing.
It is a decision that has already been adopted by other Coops across the UK and has also been embraced locally by Jersey Dairy.
Although the supermarket chain already works with groups such as OLIO and the Grace Trust to reduce waste, the business said it wants to take a step further in limiting what ends up in the landfill by removing the dates and helping to educate its customers and Members about the meaning behind the display dates.
Pictured: The Coop said its staff will continue their routine of checking and rotating stock.
CEO Mark Cox said: “As a community retailer, we want to ensure that we are doing all we can to support and preserve our natural environment. We recognised that we have a responsibility to reduce our contribution to the issue of food waste, hence why we are making this move to further reduce our wastage."
According to the Government of Jersey, it is believed that around a third of rubbish that ends up in household bins is food waste. Furthermore, it is thought that more than a quarter of food is thrown away in its original packaging.
The issue is also one of concern in Guernsey where it has previously been reported that more than 50 tonnes of food waste get collected from households each week.
Pictured: You can find out more details on the Channel Islands Coop sell-by date removal initiative on their website.
The campaign is not only about looking at reducing the environmental impact of food waste, but also to educate islanders on the meaning behind dating on food packaging, which may ultimately be able to help save food and money for islanders.
"Food date labels can sometimes be confusing or ambiguous, with terms such as ‘Display until’ or ‘Best before’," Mr Cox added.
"By removing this, we’re choosing to bring shopping ‘back to its basics’ by encouraging shoppers to look, see and inspect the products they are purchasing.”
As part of the change, the Coop is also reassuring shoppers that although the dates will be removed from own-brand products, colleagues in food stores will continue their routine of checking and rotating stock as usual to ensure that all products sold are meeting requirements for sale and safety.
For any products nearing the end of their reasonable shelf-life, the price will still be reduced to reflect its short-term quality.
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