According to a Harvard University report, “40 % of food in the U.S. is needlessly tossed each year due to exaggerated sell-by date and Americans may be unnecessarily contributing to $160 billion in annual food waste because date labels are not yet standardized in the U.S.”
Doug Racuch, a former head of Trader Joe’s, has recently announced plans to open up a new, first-of-its kind hybrid grocery store/restaurant exclusively selling food that is slightly past its “best-before” date, called “The Daily Table.”
As a firm believer in no food waste, I applause such innovative thinking and plan. I do often buy discounted produce/prepared foods at Costco, Superstore, T&T and small local groceries stores. However, these food products bought at a discount are not considered the ‘expired’ foods. For example, a hot dish sold at a discount at T&T during the last two hours of shopping hour has not gone bad yet. And it would (and should) be good for the next couple days.
As for the products past its best-before date, they are likely to be ‘perceived’ as, of lower quality or even unsafe to consume. However, the lack of the date-labeling standards means that the best-before/expiry date may not represent the actual shelf life. Assuming that the groceries do not dare compromising the consumers’ health – and its brand image/reputation, the dates they put on the foods are likely to be somewhat shorter than the actual shelf life. Then, it may be safe to consume the food past its best-before date.
Also, to attract the customers, the prices have to be lower than that of the original groceries stores.
If The Daily Table has become a success, some price-sensitive customers may not purchase foods at the original groceries store but wait till the products arrive to The Daily Table. Then their sales and margins will suffer.
Follow