For the revamp the supermarket has made bold, new signage for its mark-down section in stores to help shoppers find food bargains and at the same time help reduce food waste.
The new signage which states, ‘reduced in price, just as nice’, is now up in just under 300 stores and plans are currently being discussed to roll it out even further across all Tesco branches.
The mark down areas feature a wide range of products from fresh produce like salads, meat, bread and sweet treats which are near to their expiry date, so they're ideal for tonight’s supper or for popping in the freezer for another day, to end of season as well as discontinued grocery and non-food products, also.
Tesco Group Quality, Technical and Sustainability Director Claire Lorains said: “At Tesco we have no time for food waste and we are doing everything we can to reduce this.
“Our customers are always on the lookout for great value food, and our rebranded ‘reduced in price, just as nice’ signage makes it easier than ever before to spot a short-dated and top-quality bargain.”
The initial move last October was made after a survey revealed shoppers would pick up more yellow sticker food items if the marked down area where they are placed would look nicer.
Tesco’s Hatfield Extra store in Hertfordshire was the first to feature the revamp last October.
Hatfield store manager Ravi Aloysius said: “The new signage has had an immediate effect and we are seeing more people wishing to buy from our reductions area, particularly on fresh food, meaning there are far fewer items left at the end of an evening.”
Tesco has already achieved a 45 per cent reduction in food waste across own operations since 2016/17. However, it knows there is still more to do despite just 0.35 per cent of food it handled, last year, ending up as waste.
Tesco closely follows the food waste hierarchy to ensure that no food goes to landfill. Where possible surplus food is given to humans through Fareshare.