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Wednesday, March 02, 2016

Denmark's New Grocer Is Selling Expired Food, And It's A Hit

Denmark is once again distinguishing itself in the race against food waste — this time, with a supermarket hawking items once destined for the trash bin.

Those items might include treats for a holiday that happened last week, a ripped box of cornflakes, plain white rice mislabeled as basmati, or anything nearing its expiration date. In other words, perfectly edible items that are nonetheless considered unfit for sale by the retailers and manufacturers who donate them.

WeFood is not the first grocer in Europe to sell surplus food. But unlike so-called "social supermarkets" – stores which serve almost exclusively low-income people — WeFood's offerings are very intentionally aimed at the general public.

"If you call it a 'social supermarket,' it's difficult to get customers to go there. Who wants to be poor?" explains Per Bjerre with DanChurchAid, the charity behind this initiative. "If you want to stop [the] waste of food, everybody has to be into it."

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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Food should not end up in a dumpster. But it does.

Droford said...

Theres a place in Harrington that does the same thing. They sell yogurt with use by dates that are passed, sometimes 8 for $1 with the same yogurts with dates in the future going for $1 or more each in Wal Mart. It al, tastes the same.

Most of the time the dates are only on the package to get people to throw out food they already bought so they have to buy more to keep people from stockpiling.

Anonymous said...

Raised our large family years ago with food nearing its expiration date, bought from Lou's Discount Grocery in Laurel. No problems at all, we ate well, and out food budget went a long way there. Miss you Lou!!

Anonymous said...

I miss Lou's Grocery. It was too bad that no one took it over - what a lost opportunity - $15,000 for the building, stock and sources.