Lidl Austria has saved 1,000 tons of food

Lidl Austria will offer discounts for food stuffs that are approaching their best-before date - by as much as 70% on the last day. This measure alone saved over 1,000 tons of food in one year.

Too much food that would still be edible still ends up in the organic waste garbage can. According to WWF, the Austrian consumer throws out up to 521,000 tons of edible food every year. "Yet much of it could still be consumed without any problem. The best-before date doesn't always say anything about the edibility of a food product. It pushes people to discard food that is still perfectly fine. That's why we are focusing on targeted discounts against unnecessary food waste, raising awareness," says Simon Lindenthaler, Head of Corporate Communications and CSR at Lidl Austria. On the day of the best-before date, Lidl Austria even reduces prices of individual products by up to 70%. "Through this measure alone, we have already saved over 1,000 tons of food after just one year.

360° approach against food waste
Lidl Austria works with a 360° approach against food waste.

• Well protected: Even at the packaging stage, care is taken to ensure that food is well protected and stays fresh for a long time.
• Smart ordering: Sophisticated ordering systems ensure that the right amount of food is available in the stores at the right time.
• Relying on your senses: We are putting notices on more and more packaging to evaluate food using your own senses. If the product still looks, smells and tastes good, it is probably still edible - even though the best-before date may be a day past.
• Donating goods: All our stores donate food stuffs when there are takers.
• Freshness with moderation: In the evening, the supply of fresh goods such as bread and pastries is deliberately reduced. This means that less is left over when the store closes.
• Second chance: Food that cannot be sold and donated goes to an organic gas plant for recycling or is processed into animal feed.

Save Me Box
Our "Save Me Box" is also really popular with our customers. The boxes contain fruit and vegetables that have been removed from their original packaging, for example, or whose appearance are no longer perfect when inspected visually, but which are still suitable for further processing. The rescued products can then be bought for a small price in the stores. Up to 1,000 boxes leave our stores every day.

Further information on food waste can be found at www.aufdemwegnachmorgen.at and on the website of the Association of Austrian Food Banks.