Freeze It, Don't Bin It!
Sainsfreeze, a new concept store from Sainsbury’s, only opens its doors for two days, showing customers how to freeze different types of foods and save on surplus food going to waste.
It comes as climate action NGO WRAP warns the average family is wasting £60 a month – or £730 a year – through food waste. Meanwhile, new research from Sainsbury’s shows that 58% of Brits say they’re looking at ways to cut costs – including throwing away less food (35%) and purchasing more reduced items (45%). Almost all food items can be frozen, and both Sainsbury’s and WRAP are on a mission to show Brits the vast benefits becoming freezer savvy has on shoppers’ pockets and the planet.
The first-of-its-kind walk-in freezer looks like a regular Sainsbury’s from the outside, but once inside customers will be greeted with frozen groceries that they would usually buy fresh. Customers will see shelves stacked with everyday items such as fruit and veg, dairy, meat, fish and baked goods – but everything will be frozen. From frozen eggs to herbs mixed with water and preserved in ice trays, the innovative pop-up aims to inspire Brits about how food can be frozen to help reduce waste and save money.
Top items currently commonly thrown away include bread, milk and salad. According to Sainsbury’s research (36%) say they find an item is mouldy or has gone off before they have had a chance to eat it, and just one in 10 (11%) realise eggs can be frozen, 24% herbs and 18% yoghurt.
Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s has reported a 5% uplift in sales of reduced ‘yellow label’ food in the last month– a trend set to continue with one in three Brits saying they plan on buying more of these items in the future. However, just 16% freeze reduced food, with the majority (60%) putting off purchasing these items because they think they need to be eaten the same day.
For those unable to visit Sainsfreeze, the retailer has teamed up with WRAP to provide tips on using the freezer to reduce waste at home. From remembering to check the freezer before shopping to portioning items and using the right containers, tips can be found online HERE.
Sainsbury’s is committed to halving food waste across the value chain by 2030. The retailer has sent zero waste to landfill since 2013 and recently announced the removal of date codes on 276 products. Additionally, September marks one year since Sainsbury’s started working with Neighbourly, during which time it has donated over 5.7 million meals to those who need it most.
Ruth Cranston, Director of Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability at Sainsbury’s, said, “We recognise the way our customer's shop and eat has benefits for their health and the planet too. It’s why our mission, helping everyone eat better, supports our customers to make healthier, more sustainable choices.
“When people think about climate change, food waste often gets overlooked. Around a third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted***, and it contributes a whopping 8-10% of greenhouse gas emissions globally each year****. That is why we are launching Sainsfreeze, to help customers try and combat food waste and learn handy hints and top tips along the way. Innovative freezing not only allows us to save food we would otherwise have thrown away but also to buy reduced-priced food close to its use-by date, saving even more money on the weekly grocery bill.”
Catherine David, Director of Collaboration & Change, WRAP, says: “UK households waste the equivalent of eight meals a week on average – that’s costing the average family nearly £800 per year! As well as costing money, food waste is having a big impact on the climate. If it were a country, food waste would have the third largest carbon footprint in the world, behind only the USA and China. At a time of rising food prices, tackling food waste at home is one way we can all make a difference and save money.
We know that our freezer can be our friend when it comes to helping us use more of the food we buy – we can use it to press pause on food that we’re not ready to eat yet, right up to the use-by date. But we also know that not everyone is yet a freezer fan. We found that a third of people admit their freezer is sometimes a total disaster area. This results in UFOs, or unidentified frozen objects and around 20% of us throw away something frozen because it has laid dormant for too long. Initiatives like Sainsfreeze help people think about how to make the most of their freezer and ensure that the food we freeze gets used safely. For more tips on how to freeze and defrost effectively on superb freezer management, check out our Love Food Hate Waste campaign, and get involved in the fight to stop good food from being thrown in the bin!”
Sainsfreeze is open to the public on the 27th and 28th of September in Boxpark, Shoreditch, from 10 am to 6 pm, with all food being given away for free.
All surplus food from Sainsfreeze will be donated to Sainsbury’s food redistribution charity partner FareShare, ensuring no food goes to waste. Sainsbury’s has a long-standing relationship with Fareshare, funding multiple initiatives across the network. Recently, it has funded new freezers across sites.