This is why we should all be stockpiling
When you walk through the supermarket, all the deals are impossible to miss. Buy one, get one free, the second one half price, bonus offers, bulk packages, the Hamsterweken at Albert Heijn…. All those deals make you buy far more than you need, and the general assumption is that this leads to food waste. But is that really the case?
You probably know the feeling: you’ve fallen for a deal and bought two tubs of fresh pasta instead of one, because the second one was free, so you’d be a fool to leave it behind, right? Once you get home, you use the second pack or freeze it for later. Or you end up not using it and eventually throw it away. What a waste, because that’s how a well-intentioned deal can still contribute to food waste. That’s why several countries have introduced measures to restrict special offers. In France, for example, food discounts may now be no more than 34%, and the ‘buy one, get one free’ deal is even banned there.
But are these measures necessary? Do special offers encourage waste, or is the situation more nuanced? Dutch scientist Arjen van Lin investigated.
Research into our behavior
Van Lin is an associate professor of marketing at Tilburg University. According to him, there is no concrete data showing that bulk discounts actually lead to more food waste. To establish this scientifically, he and his team examined the eating and shopping behavior of Dutch households for nine weeks. His study produced a surprising result: “Our research showed that customers who buy more groceries than usual through special offers are more aware of this large quantity,” he tells Trouw. “They think more about how they are going to use the food. Or they freeze it.”
Stockpiling is a conscious choice
People who buy a lot of food in bulk or through special offers therefore actually handle it more consciously. That’s important information — and even reassuring — because food waste is a major problem. In 2020, we still threw away approximately 161 kilos of food per person, which is of course ridiculous! According to Van Lin, supermarkets can play a major role in raising our awareness around food. “For example, some supermarkets are already experimenting with selling frozen loaves of bread. That leads to less waste for both supermarkets and consumers.”
And is your food past its expiration date? You can still eat these 9 things perfectly well!
Also read:
- Bonuskaart Premium: Albert Heijn makes customers pay for discounts
- 5 bad kitchen habits we need to quit
- Huh: customer finds a strange code on their Lidl blueberries
Source: Trouw
