Kepak, home to Rustlers, is helping retailers slash food-to-go waste costs with its new East St Deli range, which tackles the “number one food waste issue faced by convenience stores” – short shelf lives.
With pre-packaged sandwiches typically offering a shelf life of just one to two days, Kepak’s East St Deli range delivers a market-leading shelf life, the best in the market for comparable products.
Internal modelling data indicates that this extra shelf life could cut sandwich food-to-go wastage retailers face by up to 50 per cent, reducing costs and tackling the estimated 10.7 million–17.8 million sandwiches that are thrown away in UK retail each year.
East St Deli is a premium sandwich range containing five fresh sandwiches in Chicken & Stuffing, Chicken & Bacon Mayo, Tuna Mayo, Egg Mayo and Cheese & Onion Mayo varieties, as well as duo of wraps in Sweet Chilli Chicken and Chicken Caesar Wrap flavours, RRP £2.89.
Kepak achieves its longer shelf life through MAP Packaging, which maintains the integrity of fresh ingredients for longer. This process optimises the atmosphere within the pack to preserve a “just-made” delicious taste and texture without the need for artificial preservatives. Each product is packaged in highly recyclable aPET, paper, and card materials aligned with WRAP guidance.
As with all ranges produced within Kepak’s BRCGS gold-standard facilities, East St Deli is built on rigorous food safety and industry-leading quality control.
The launches come to market at a time the sandwich category is in significant growth in the UK. Worth £5.8bn, the segment has grown by +10.9 per cent over the past two years.
“Retailers work hard to manage waste day-to-day, and we are committed to supporting them in this challenge,” said Monisha Singh at Kepak. “East St Deli proves that extending shelf life doesn’t mean sacrificing exceptional taste and quality.
“We’re giving retailers a range that gives them a greater chance at protecting their margins while keeping customers coming back for more.”
The launch follows focus-group style research commissioned by Kepak in partnership with ACS, which highlighted pre-packed sandwiches as the product with the highest wastage in store. The majority of retailers cited ‘short shelf life’ as the leading challenge.
The retail sector generates up to 0.3 million tonnes of food waste each year, enough to feed the entire UK population three meals a day for three months. Kepak believes that as reporting requirements tighten, food-to-go will become a key area for scrutiny as retailers look to balance sustainability targets with commercial performance.