At the till with slightly overripe fruit and vegetables at a reduced price, Stian Johannessen has picked a head of lettuce with him. Because he has nothing to say that the salad has no date marking. – You just have to use your eye. Then you can see if the goods are good. Now that prices are rising, interest rates are rising and everything is becoming more expensive, it’s great that you can buy goods with a short shelf life at a lower price. And there are many who think and act like Johannessen. Much of the overripe fruit the shops now sell at a reduced price has previously been thrown away and used for animal feed. Photo: Tariq Alisubh / news Tonnes Over the past six months, the food chain Coop has sold quantities of “old” vegetables. As much as 65 tons. It could be bananas that start to turn a little brown, spotted tomatoes or fruit that looks a little different. People can pick the fruit and vegetables from so-called food rescue boxes, and the price is greatly reduced. The items that were previously thrown away have become very popular. – It is quite obvious that the economic situation has become tougher for some. And it has probably been a kick in the back to people to look for cheaper goods in the store, says communications manager at Coop Norge, Harald Kristiansen. Several of the store managers he has spoken to say the tills are emptied in a short time. Do you buy old fruit and vegetables? Avoids it becoming animal feed. The Kiwi chain won’t be any worse. They also have a similar arrangement. They have apparently not calculated how much overripe fruit and vegetables they want to sell. But they expect that it will be about tons. – We have just started, and it has already become very popular. We don’t spend anything on this hall, but it is much better than the fruit and vegetables going into the bin and being used as animal feed. That’s what store manager Hai Dong Lieu says at Kiwi in Steinkjer. He also believes that an increasingly tough economy contributes to making this type of offer even more popular. They have also noticed this by selling more bread from the day before at a reduced price. Store manager Hai Dong Lieu at Kiwi Nordsia in Steinkjer believes that people think both about the environment and money when they shop and therefore also buy fruit and vegetables that are a little older. Photo: Tariq Alisubh / news No health hazards Kiwi and Coop are not the only retail chains that have realized that people are happy to pay for overripe fruit. You can also find a similar offer at other food chains. According to senior inspector and specialist advisor Anne Mette Wigdahl Østeraas at the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, there is no reason to be afraid of eating fruit and vegetables that are a little old. Photo: Morten Andersen / news At the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, senior inspector and professional advisor Anne Mette Wigdahl Østeraas tells us that she is also one of those who likes to buy a banana or something else from the boxes of “old” fruit and vegetables. – We cannot see that there is any major health risk in eating fruit and vegetables that are no longer fresh. But mold and rotten fruit should of course not be eaten, she says. Østeraas therefore believes that shops must be careful in removing goods that have grown mold or are in poor condition. But they don’t need to remove everything in the package. In a package of grapes, according to the expert advisor, it may be enough to remove the grapes that have mold. Less money among people means that more and more people take with them food which will soon expire and where the price has been reduced. Photo: Tariq Alisubh / news Wants to halve food waste According to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, there are no separate rules for the sale of goods without date marking. Nor do they have their own control routines for this. But they demand that the shops have routines for removing fruit and vegetables that are no longer food. – On the fruit, you can see that it is bad, unlike on other products. If there are packaged goods, it can be more difficult to see, says Østeraas. Most food chains now work systematically to reduce food waste, and the food boxes with fruit and vegetables at a reduced price are part of that effort. The industry agreement on reducing food waste Was concluded in 2017 Consists of the five ministries: Ministry of Climate and Environment, Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Ministry of Health and Care, Ministry of Children and Families and Ministry of Fisheries Also consists of twelve industry organisations, with a total of 107 companies The agreement works so that the various companies report food waste to the authorities. The goal also includes reducing food waste in households, and the authorities are responsible for ensuring that data is collected from there. The goal is to prevent and reduce food waste in Norway. By 2030, Norwegian food waste must be halved. By 2025, the aim is for food waste to be reduced by 30 per cent. Source: Norwegian Environment Agency Kiwi’s aim, according to communications adviser Nora Mile Helgesen, is to reduce food waste on fruit and vegetables by 60 per cent. Halving food waste is also a goal that all grocery chains work together to achieve. The aim is to achieve this by 2030.
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The retail chains sell tons of old fruit and vegetables at a reduced price – news Trøndelag
