Are Supermarkets Contributing To The Waste Of Food?

[iansheff]

I have just got back from shopping at Asda, I wanted some carrots but as I don't have them that often I only wanted 2 or 3 but I was forced to get a bag of them as there weren't any loose ones. I looked a couple of weeks ago and it was the same then  Also why did they stop the small cartons of milk forcing people to buy a 2 pint carton, they stopped with the small cartons last year. We are being told to watch what we throw away as there is a lot of food wasted, forcing people to buy more than they need isn't helping.

[HeHasRisen]

If there arent any loose ones, open a bag up and take a couple and put them through the till as loose carrots.

 

The big ASDAs always have had loose carrots though, assume you went to a smaller store. 

Edited February 13, 2022 by HeHasRisen

[iansheff]

 

12 minutes ago, HeHasRisen said:

If there arent any loose ones, open a bag up and take a couple and put them through the till as loose carrots.

 

The big ASDAs always have had loose carrots though, assume you went to a smaller store. 

You assume wrong, I went to Drakehouse, 

[HeHasRisen]

10 minutes ago, iansheff said:

 

You assume wrong, I went to Drakehouse, 

Well thats odd then. Anyway, I posted the solution. Loose carrots are still on the till and can be purchased as such.

[El Cid]

37 minutes ago, HeHasRisen said:

If there arent any loose ones, open a bag up and take a couple and put them through the till as loose carrots.

 

The big ASDAs always have had loose carrots though, assume you went to a smaller store. 

If you are really broke, if you put bananas through as carrots you will save money, if its a self-service till.

Maybe that is why they have fewer lose products.

[Rockers rule]

1 minute ago, El Cid said:

If you are really broke, if you put bananas through as carrots you will save money, if its a self-service till.

Maybe that is why they have fewer lose products.

That would only do one of two things -

mess up his traditional 'stew'

or -

Give it a Caribbean twist  🙃.

 

Keep safe & don't mess with yer food  .

 

 

[HeHasRisen]

24 minutes ago, El Cid said:

If you are really broke, if you put bananas through as carrots you will save money, if its a self-service till.

Maybe that is why they have fewer lose products.

Potentially but its a fair point the OP raises. The smallest bags are about 40p but when I do a roast I only want 2 decent sized ones and will always buy them loose, even if the 2 costs me 25p.

[Dromedary]

2 hours ago, iansheff said:

I have just got back from shopping at Asda, I wanted some carrots but as I don't have them that often I only wanted 2 or 3 but I was forced to get a bag of them as there weren't any loose ones. I looked a couple of weeks ago and it was the same then  Also why did they stop the small cartons of milk forcing people to buy a 2 pint carton, they stopped with the small cartons last year. We are being told to watch what we throw away as there is a lot of food wasted, forcing people to buy more than they need isn't helping.

Can still get 1pt cartons of milk at my local Asda. If you are at the Drakehouse end then why not try Crystal Peaks and Sainsbury.

[ECCOnoob]

3 hours ago, El Cid said:

If you are really broke, if you put bananas through as carrots you will save money, if its a self-service till.

Maybe that is why they have fewer lose products.

Not a smart idea given most of the the self checkouts, particularly in Asda have got camera systems. They monitor far far more than people think.

 

IMO, a bigger factor for loose products not being as readily available is that us customers didn't want them.  Even before covid the trend was shifting to high convenience, pre-prepared produce as an ever-increasing generation can't or won't cook properly.  A generation who are often so detached from the origins and realities of food that if they do not see a piece of meat or vegetables in absolute perfect mint condition as they visualise to be in line with glossy magazine photographs or internet images, it's rejected and doesn't sell.

 

Then we had another emerging consumer trend of less weekly big shopping and more daily top-up shopping. That led to changes in store format with less emphasis on the huge out of town hypermarkets and more on local smaller branches being opened up in town centre or residential areas.  Smaller branches, smallest floor space, easier distribution to use pre-packaged.

 

Finally we have to think about the massive rise of online grocery delivery and robotic centralised operations like Ocado.  When you take the human element out of the equation, it is simply not feasible to be dealing with loose individually picked vegetables and goods.

 

I am not saying that supermarket wastage is not  an important issue, but we cannot overlook other surrounding factors many of which we consumers create ourselves. 

 

Let's just think about how so many of us seem more than happy to pay twice the cost to get something delivered on a food ordering app rather than home cooking or at the very least walking to some local establishment. We are more than happy to clog up the streets with petrol guzzling cars just to get our Fried Chicken delivered from the shop a 10-minute walk down the street. We have even recently created a seemingly viable business (to the point where it can afford television advertising), which will deliver single items of low value snacks, drinks or confectionery to your door at great financial and environmental impact when compared to simply getting off one's backside and walking down to the local Co-op.

 

Yes of course, there are always exceptions for elderly and mobility but I highly doubt that Doris is her 90s is getting a can of coke and bag of Doritos delivered through a smartphone app. Nor will she likely be the sort of person who will freak out at seeing a little bit of of bruising on some meat or the concept of peeling a potato  - So it's clear who is going to be using these services quite happily whilst presumably at the same time also more than happy to do a bit of slacktivism online petitioning or placard waving about "the government" or "greedy corporations" not doing anything about the environment......    quite laughable really.

 

Edited February 13, 2022 by ECCOnoob

[iansheff]

5 minutes ago, HeHasRisen said:

Potentially but its a fair point the OP raises. The smallest bags are about 40p but when I do a roast I only want 2 decent sized ones and will always buy them loose, even if the 2 costs me 25p.

I would rather pay like that than waste perfectly good food. Last time when they didn't have any loose I just looked on the whoops and got a bag of sliced carrots, as they were going in the slow cooker when I got home they were fine.

 

8 minutes ago, Dromedary said:

Can still get 1pt cartons of milk at my local Asda. If you are at the Drakehouse end then why not try Crystal Peaks and Sainsbury.

It is the inconvenience of going to another store when  Asda is easier to park and I have got my shopping. I just looked on the Asda website and this is the one pint they have, I have never heard of it.

https://groceries.asda.com/product/semi-skimmed-milk/grahams-semi-skimmed-milk/1000272271996