Because unsold food that is still in good condition but close to its expiry date is often wasted, The Food Bank Singapore is setting up a shop where such items are sold for S$1.
Regardless of the brand or product type, that is the set price at the non-profit organisation’s The Food Pantry, which opens in Sims Avenue on Monday.
It will sell consumable items that have less than two months of shelf life, and is seeking donations from retailers of such items as canned foods, biscuits, beverages, sauces and confectionery. Unwanted fresh fruit and vegetables will be added later to the range.
“It’s a platform for us to raise awareness of food waste and change the way consumers shop,” says The Food Bank Singapore co-founder Nichol Ng.
Covering about 500 sqft (46 sqm), the shop will also be a drop-off point for those who wish to donate food. Donors are encouraged to give packaged food that is unopened and has at least a week of shelf life.
Established in 2012, The Food Bank collects, stores and distributes donated food to such organisations as family-service centres, soup kitchens and voluntary welfare organisations, as well as homes.
Meanwhile, on the eve of Earth Day, supermarket FairPrice continues its war on food waste, announcing a cut of 39 per cent last year. Using its own food-waste index, measuring total food waste over total retail space, it had only 7.2kg/sqm last year, compared with 11.9kg/sqm in 2014.
Across Singapore, last year’s total food waste fell from the previous year, and in tandem, FairPrice’s food waste made up 0.2 per cent of the total, an improvement from 2014’s 0.3 per cent.
“Reduction of food waste has been a key focus for FairPrice for two years as part of our sustainability goals,” says NTUC FairPrice CEO Seah Kian Peng.
He says the supermarket also works with the public and NGOs to involve the community in its waste-reduction efforts.
“We recognise that everyone has a part to play in caring for the environment. Our three-pronged approach, comprising processes, public education and partnerships, has given us a great start in reducing food waste in our stores.”
Since FairPrice introduced its food waste framework last year, the categories with the most waste have had improvements of at least 30 per cent, particularly tropical and exotic fruits, vegetables and fresh fish/seafood.
As well as staff awareness and ownership of food waste, strong customer support has also helped the company’s efforts, with 210,000kg of fruits and vegetables being saved through its “Great Taste Less Waste” selection, which was piloted at the seven FairPrice Xtra stores in May last year. Fruits with slight blemishes and cut vegetables were repackaged and sold at a discount. An extra 64 FairPrice stores took up the initiative.
At the same time, FairPrice’s partnership with Food from the Heart contributed to beneficiaries through regular donations of unsold but still wholesome groceries from its 131 stores. About S$20,000 worth of items monthly were distributed across 41 charities.
