Nine in 10 (92 per cent) shoppers don’t always know what they already have in their kitchens before heading to the supermarket, stated a recent report.
According to a new study from Tesco, despite 65 per cent of shoppers acknowledging that a store cupboard stock take would help them reduce food waste, the majority (80 per cent) don’t always do this, and instead hit the aisles or order in a takeaway without checking what they already have. This leads to increased spending, duplicate purchases, incomplete meals and ultimately, food ending up in the bin as ingredients are overlooked and left to spoil.
The research found that 68 per cent of people have purchased food without realising they already have the same item waiting at home. 62 per cent of UK adults have missed items from their food shop because they mistakenly believed they already had the item, the report stated, adding that as a consequence, 53 per cent have had to change meal plans.
The research, commissioned by Tesco via YouGov, revealed that three quarters (73 per cent) of UK households have thrown away forgotten items lurking in cupboards, fridges and freezers that they never got around to eating. The amount of edible food an average UK household wastes each year equates to approximately £800.
Much of the food going to waste is produce that is often stored out of sight in kitchens, states the report. Baked goods such as loaves and rolls are thrown out by 60 per cent of households that admit to having ever thrown out unused store cupboard items. 27 per cent of such households bin jars of condiments such as ketchup and mustard, states the report, adding that even tinned produce, despite typically long use-by dates, is going to waste, with 13 per cent of offending households throwing away cans of beans or tuna fish.