Over 50% of Albert Heijn’s own-brand packaging now displays a ‘look, smell, taste’ or hand icon to differentiate between best-before and use-by dates, tackle unnecessary food waste, and help consumers save money.
The ‘look, smell, taste’ icon is displayed on products with a best-before date. It encourages consumers to use their senses and gauge whether the product is still safe to eat – a move hoped to prevent products from being thrown away before they expire.
Albert Heijn has also developed a combined empty-pack instruction to accompany this icon on dairy cartons: “Get the most out of your pack. Pour the contents out, flatten the pack, fold the back over, and enjoy to the last drop!”
Conversely, the hand icon is displayed on products with a use-by date. This symbol emphasizes that the product may be unsafe to eat after the specified date and should be discarded.
Albert Heijn also specifies that consumers can extend a product’s shelf life by two days if they prepare it on (or before) its use-by date and store it in a well-sealed, refrigerated container.
As a member of the Samen Tegen Voedselverspilling (Together Against Food Waste) network’s Shelf-Life Coalition, the retailer aims to raise awareness about food shelf life and tackle waste at home.
Other approaches include its Scan & Cook initiative, through which consumers can take a photo of their ingredients and the Albert Heijn app’s smart AI feature suggests relevant recipes to prevent waste.
Albert Heijn also aspires to reduce in-store food waste by 50% between 2016 and 2030.
In recent years, other retailers have removed use-by dates from their packaging altogether. Asda hoped to prevent consumers from disposing of its own-brand yoghurts before they expire by focusing on best-before dates, and Marks & Spencer took a similar approach to its fresh milk packaging in a bid to halve its food waste by 2030.
Elsewhere, Makro and VML have developed Life Extending Stickers to help consumers gauge the ripeness of fresh produce and offer serving suggestions for each stage in the ripening process. This is hoped to address food waste and help the retailer meet its sustainability targets.
Vitsab International also presents its Freshtag Flight Label, which uses ‘stoplight’ colour-change technology in line with an edible product’s exposure to different temperatures: green for safe conditions, yellow for moderate, and red after exposure to unsuitable temperatures. This approach is set to tackle food waste in perishable airline meals.
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