What can you do?
Find out more about how you can save money, save the planet and prevent food waste at home.
Preventing food waste
Food loss and waste is impacting negatively on the environment, the economy, food security, and nutrition. Our priority remains to prevent food waste from being created in the first place – and when surplus does occur, to ensure as much of it as possible is eaten and enjoyed by people who need it.
What can you do?
We're committed to preventing food waste in our stores and depots and we want to help you too. Take a look at our 5 top tips to find out how you can save money, save the planet and prevent food waste at home.
Preventing food waste can save you money and reduce your impact on the planet
Save money
It is estimated that a family of four can save up to £80 per month, or around £1000 per year just by throwing away less food.
Save the planet
Reducing household food waste will make a huge difference. In the UK alone it is linked to 18 million tonnes of Greenhouse Gas Emissions per year.*
*Waste & Resource Action Programme (Wrap), 2023
1. Track and Change
Spend a week jotting down the food you throw away, why you wasted it and how much it costs. Knowing what you waste and why, helps you make small changes and save money.
2. Plan to Prevent
Check your fridge and cupboards before you go food shopping, plan your meals for the week and make a list so you know what you’re going to buy at the shop. Add things you need on your phone or on a pad in the kitchen throughout the week. Take a photo of your fridge before you go to the shop so you don’t double up.
Buy things that will go together to make a meal rather than random ingredients that you don’t know what you’ll do with – browse our recipes for meal ideas. Check packets carefully – as well as use-by-dates you can find handy storage, cooking tips and portion advice on Co-op products.
Work out in advance what you’ll be eating with our simple to use planner that saves you time, hassle and reduces food waste. See our handy meal planner or Hubbub’s tips for meal prepping like a pro.
3. Store for success
Keep your fridge at 5 degrees or below and remember the freezer is your friend! Check out Hubbub’s guide to freezable ingredients - it might surprise you.
Make the most of your fridge
- Keep your refrigerator at or below 5°C
- Store fish and chicken at the bottom of the fridge where it is coldest and to stop them dripping on other things
- Put flour in the fridge to prevent it from going bad and keep its natural oils as cool as possible
- Refrigerated eggs last longer and their temperature will be kept consistent
- Cool cooked rice quickly by rinsing in cold water and refrigerating within an hour – eat within 24 hours
- Always keep cheese in the fridge to keep it fresh. You can even refrigerate hard cheese such as cheddar after grating
- Jams and condiments are better in the fridge
- Store apples in a reusable container to make them last two weeks longer
- Mushrooms store better in a paper bag or folded into a tea towel
- Try not to overpack your fridge as it can affect the lifespan of everything in there
Other storage advice
- Tomatoes taste nicer at room temperature and can lose their flavour if kept too cold
- Fruits such as bananas, pineapples and nectarines should be kept in a cool, dark place
- Bread should be kept in a cool, dry place and will go stale or mouldy more quickly when placed next to chilled produce
- Peanut butter should be stored in the cupboard
- Celery looking a little sad? Instantly revive it in ice cold water
- Cakes and similar treats can be frozen if you wrap them well
- Freeze pasta, but let it cool and give it a little drizzle of olive oil
- Fresh herbs survive longer if kept in water - like fresh flowers!
4. Value your food
Producing food takes a lot of labour, land, water, and energy. If you eat and enjoy your food instead of wasting it, you’re helping the planet and saving money. Our recipes can help you make the most of any ingredient. Wondering what to do with your leftovers? Before you throw anything away, check out these recipes that allow you to create something delicious from the bits that didn’t quite make it into other meals.
Love your leftovers
Wondering what to do with your leftovers? Before you throw anything away, check out these recipes that allow you to create something delicious from the bits that didn't quite make it into other meals.
Looking for creative ways to use up your leftovers? Try some of these handy tips.
- Sliced veg can perk up any pizza topping - just try it.
- Spare fruit can be added to breakfast cereal for extra zing.
- Upgrade omelettes by adding already cooked potatoes.
- Boil your chicken bones for a few hours to make super tasty stock.
- Edible tomatoes should never be thrown out - you’re halfway to a salad.
- Bananas getting too ripe? They’ll still taste great in banana bread.
- Unused veg such as spring onion can be added to mash for a lovely twist.
- Rice tastes even better with leftover sweetcorn, peas or onion mixed through it.
- Stale bread? That means bread and butter pudding to us.
- Keep your salad and use it in tomorrow’s lunch sandwiches.
- Sunday roast leftovers can be converted into Monday dishes such as this Shepherd’s pie.
- Baked potatoes go with lots of leftovers such as cooked salmon or sausages.
- Give pickling a go with leftover cucumber or cabbage - it’s very simple.
5. Sharing is caring
If you do have excess food that’s still safe to eat, consider sharing it with friends, family, your neighbours or people in the local community. At Co-op we’ve partnered with Hubbub and Your Local Pantry, to double the network of Community Fridges and Local Pantries across the UK. Find out more about our partnership with them and how you can share food or access to good food in your community!
Want to find out more about reducing food waste? There’s lots of useful information on the Love Food Hate Waste website. It’s a great place to educate yourself on this crucial issue.
What is Co-op doing?
We take a lot of care over how we source our Co-op’s food and drink, so we are passionate about making sure it is valued and protected along the supply chain. We work with suppliers and colleagues to prevent and reduce food waste by continuously improving how we order, manage, handle and sell our stock. We also help our customers and member-owners prevent food waste at home.
We are signatories to WRAP’s Food Waste Reduction Roadmap and we are working towards halving our food waste by 2050. You can find out more about our progress and how we work on preventing food waste by reading our latest annual sustainability report.
Despite our best efforts, sometimes our food becomes surplus. When it does, we collaborate with our redistribution partners to make sure as much of it as possible can be eaten and enjoyed by people in the community. Anything unsafe or inedible, or surplus food that we don’t manage to redistribute, is used to make green energy.
Our stores partner with Caboodle to provide food to local community groups. And our depots redistribute edible surplus food via a range of partners including FareShare, The Bread & Butter Thing, City Harvest and Company Shop.
