Sustainability

ICELAND

Iceland combats food waste with home delivery initiative

A trial of the Free on Last Day of Life scheme took place in 40 of Iceland’s stores this summer.

Iceland is offering products free to online shoppers when the last day of shelf life has been reached and no other stock is available.

The initiative, which aims to reduce food waste, will be offered from all its stores across the country.

Traditionally food items ordered and delivered by Iceland have a shelf life of at least two days, but to reduce waste the retailer is now giving products to customers free of charge on their last day of shelf life.

Shoppers will be made aware of the free item ahead of delivery and won’t be charged the original price. All Chilled, Fresh, Cakes, Bread & Morning Goods will be included in the scheme.

A trial of the Free on Last Day of Life scheme took place in 40 of Iceland’s stores this summer and saw more than 17,000 items given away for free. Customers received an average refund of £1.58 per order.

The retailer expects the new initiative to provide its customers with more than 1.3 million free items over year, equating to £500,000 in retail value.

Richard Walker, Managing Director at Iceland Foods, said: “Reducing food waste is a huge priority for us as we continue to reduce our impact on the environment. We know that shelf life plays a big role in the creation of surplus food so we to have find an innovative way to combat this within our stores and via our online shopping.

“Our Free on Last Day of Life scheme not only helps reduce food waste but also supports our customers. We know cost is key to many of our shoppers and this new initiative allows us to offer them the opportunity to reduce their weekly shopping bills as well as helping to reduce food waste.”