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[GK86]

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They might not taste quite the same,” says Naeeh Ahmed, 37, holding up for inspection a pack of Old El Paso soft tacos. The tower of boxes in front of him are three weeks past their best before date but Ahmed, operations manager at the Best Før supermarket in Oslo, says they’ll stay on display for a good few weeks yet. The same goes for the chocolate biscuits precariously piled up in the display – four weeks past their best before date – and the packs of Tassimo coffee pods that should have been sold in April. But all the prices reflect the product’s age: half-price for the tacos, two-thirds off the biscuits and, at 30 kroner (£3.66) for 32 pods, the coffee is also less than half its regular price.

It would be hard to find cheaper food in Oslo than that sold at Best Før. They flog the stuff that no one else has been able to get rid off. Products whose season has passed, or which have been overproduced, have been arriving at this small store since October last year when the mainstream Lentusgruppen supermarket chain heeded the call of the Norwegian government and decided to take food waste seriously. They established an offshoot in Oslo, the first of its kind in the city, selling the stuff other stores and suppliers throw away. It’s all up front – the shop looks like any other, but a large sign informs customers of the slightly different nature of the food down their aisles and in the chillers, which includes chicken fillets frozen a couple of days before going off.

“Most supermarkets won’t buy products that are within 10 days or so of their expiry date – it often has to be wasted,” Ahmed explains. “We thought, ‘Why don’t we make a place that has that kind of product, that will be beneficial to every party: the consumer, the supplier, and us. A win-win for everybody,” he says.

“Some who believe in the cause are very positive but, any new concept takes a little time in the market. It is going well though … every person in Norway knows these days that now is the time to do something before it is too late.” One customer, asked why he is shopping in this store, puts it succinctly: “I’m hungry.”

Best Før is the latest concept that has taken root in Norway, where collaboration between industry and the government to tackle food waste has sparked a range of innovations designed to make the most of what the country produces. A platform called bestfør.no, helps supermarkets identify food at risk of becoming inedible through a digital record of products’ sell-by dates, allowing stores to locate the food that needs a lower price, or alert charities of a load of produce coming their way, without the fuss of searching through the shelves. A new app, foodlist, encourages people to take photographs of food in stores coming to the end of its shelf life, to alert people that it needs to be eaten and where it can be found. A company called SNÅL frukt & grøn has popped up selling wonky vegetables, or odd coloured eggs, with a 30% discount. And the Norwegian government says they want more of this, and quickly.

It was 2010 when the food industry in Norway first started to take the issue seriously, with the encouragement of the state. A country dedicated to tackling climate change was waking up to the fact that its food waste corresponded to emitting 978,000 tonnes of CO2, or about one-quarter of the emissions from Norway’s cars. Industry started to collect statistics on waste through the food chain, from field or factory to the kitchen bin. Labels on products were adapted. “Use by” was changed to “best before”. Smaller packs of food were sold. Consumers were educated by people in stores about the best way to keep food fresh, and the costs of waste to their household budgets.

By 2015, edible food waste had been reduced by 12% per person, having risen for the previous five years. But a target of reducing waste 25% by the end of 2015 had not been met. Waste in the country still amounted to 355,000 tonnes a year, 42.1kg of food per person. Norwegians were still throwing away over 11% of fruit and vegetables and about 4% of solid dairy products.

 

[Pluto]

Here in germany many supermarkets have a small section where they put food that's past the date, I always look there, it's always significantly cheaper. I would love an entire store of that stuff.

 

[disco]

Delicious! 💩

But seriously, I often eat apples and potatoes that are weeks out of date. I find fruit such as tomatoes, blueberries and lemons can be eaten a week to months afterwards if kept dry and cool in the fridge.

 

[Brannon]

Wholeheartedly agree; a box of cookies or crackers a few weeks out isn't going to taste all that much different.

 

[Akuun]

Better than throwing it out.

 

[GK86]

Here in germany many supermarkets have a small section where they put food that's past the date, I always look there, it's always significantly cheaper. I would love an entire store of that stuff.

I wish the supermarkets around me did this. I would have no problem buying items from that section. When I worked at BJs Wholesale club, it was a shame to see just how much food is thrown out.

 

[UpDownLeftRight]

We seem to already do this with a number of smaller stores here in the UK from what I can tell, either that or just skirting the best before date. Can never taste a difference but only ever buy stuff that is clearly good for a while beyond the date.

 

[Breakage]

I put blueberries and raspberries in the freezer and dip into it when I need to. It can last for a month. In the fridge it goes off within a week.

 

[Parch]

best before
shelf date
expiration date

They don't mean the food suddenly goes bad on that date. It's basically just liability protection for retailers with a significant time frame built in before it's actually spoiled. It does help to show shelf life and how fresh it might be, but not edibility.
People get too paranoid about food dates.

I do volunteer work giving away donated food that is often near or past expiration date. It's perfectly fine. We tell them to do a smell and taste test if they have concerns. For dairy and meats it's reasonable to be cautious, but dry goods most likely will never make you sick. It might be a little stale, but it's not going to kill you.

Throwing away food on expiration dates is a waste. It's not necessary.

 

[Tecnniqe]

Just because its over the date don't mean its gone bad so this is a good option.

 

[Gordon Shumway]

Expired milk is just cheese..😃🔫

 

[Darren870]

They did this in Australia, but more importantly with fruit and veggies. Well near experation food. Man things would be slightly going off and id get such a great deal. Sometimes it was only one bad thing and like 10 not even ripe yet things.

Best score was 10 unripped avocados for $3. I bought about 50! Gave loads away to a friend but kept the rest in my fridge to slow down the rippening process.

Woolies for you Australian folks wondering. They do $3 bags.

When I moved back to the US I asked my major supermarket if they had anything that was close to experation or food that was going off soon due to being too ripe that was selling at a discount.

"We only sell the freshest products and produce"
"So you toss it all then?"
".....yes"

Just eat it is a pretty good documentry about how much food is wasted.

 

[Dingens]

I don't think that's particularly revolutionary. isn't that a thing in many places already?
Expiration dates are set way to conservatively anyway.
2 months ago I made a Pizza that, if you'd add up all expiration dates for every ingredient, would amount to around 1 1/2 years out of date... Tasted fine and I'm still alive...

Spoiler

granted, the flour already accounted for a full year

 

[Weckum]

Just because its over the date don't mean its gone bad so this is a good option.

Yup, I had pasta sauce that was six months over date this week. Nothing wrong with it.

 

[Micael]

I put blueberries and raspberries in the freezer and dip into it when I need to. It can last for a month. In the fridge it goes off within a week.

A vacuum sealer that can take the air out of jars helps with that, also really a vacuum sealer all around helps with keeping food better for longer periods of time, it also serves to help cooking in sous vide, which in turn also works well with heat-shocking to store cooked food.