Standard Press Release

Embargoed 00:015th March 2013

‘Let’s stay together, to keep our food fresher for longer

Storing our food in its packaging can help keep it fresher for up to two weeks longer*and save the average family upto £270** a year.But new research released today, from Love Food Hate Waste shows that only 13% of us realise that packaging can play an important role in protecting food in our homes.

Not surprisingly the research found that after price, freshness and how long food lasts for are the most important factors for us when we go shopping. We all want to make sure our food is at its best for longer so that we don’t have to throw it, and our money, in the bin.

In fact there’s a great opportunity for us all to save money every week. Even though the majority of us, 61% in fact, are mistakenly thinking fruit and vegetables will sweat and go off quicker if they’re left in the pack.The evidence shows that if we keep our food in its packaging and store it according to the label when we get it home, we would have more time to eat it, reducing the 4.4 million tonnes of good food and drink wasted each year.

To help us waste less and save more, Love Food Hate Wastehas launched ‘Fresher for Longer’ the perfect way to help us not waste food. With images of pears asking to hold onto their pack ‘till lunch do us part’ and cheese pledging ‘you make my shelf life complete’ the theme shows how packaging can not only protect our food from damage on its way to the shops, but keep it fresher for longer in our homes.

Fresher for longer’ is being officially launched today in conjunction with Marks & Spencer as part of its Plan A commitment to help customers live more sustainably. Over the years M&S has introduced a number of packaging innovations to help us waste less, such as vacuum ‘skin’ packs on fish and meats and the‘It’s Fresh’ tab in strawberry punnets, to maintain the quality and freshness of its food for days longer. Today M&Shas also launched a new online interactive ‘Fresher for Longer’ tool, on its Plan A website for customers to find the best way to store their food.

To save money, the best solution is to buy foodwe want to store for longer than a day or two, with the appropriate packaging; for example even fruit and vegetables bought loose can last longer if stored properly in a bag that is lightly tied in the fridge. Packaging innovation meansmany manufactures and supermarkets now use breathable fruit and veg bags, have more re-closable packs and many more clever features, all designed to make food last longer and save us as consumers money.

Love Food Hate Waste’s Emma Marsh said: “Saving money is always at the top of people’s wish list and wasting less food achieves this. By taking advantage of new packaging innovations, getting to know the packs our food now comes in and discovering the best way our food wants to be stored, for example at lovefoodhatewaste.com, we can reduce the amount we throw away which will have huge environmental benefits as well as saving us money. So when I get my food home, Ikeep it in its original packaging and check out the instructions on pack to keep my food fresher for longer.”

This new research, Consumer Attitudes to Food Waste and Food Packaging, delivered in partnership with INCPEN, The Packaging Federation, The Food and Drink Federation, Kent Waste Partnership and The British Retail Consortium, has been published today by WRAP.

Industry partners said: “Food waste is a global issue. We all have a role to play in reducing it; manufacturers, retailers and consumers, and there are many ways of doing it. Keeping food in its specifically designed packaging, and following the dates and storage guidance that appears on the pack is a great start. We have made significant progress in this area, but there is still more that we can doto help reduce food waste, reduce the environmental impact and ultimately save consumers money”.

Ends

Notes to editors:

1. WRAP’s vision is a world without waste, where resources are used sustainably. It works in partnership to help businesses, individuals and communities improve resource efficiency.
2. Established as a not-for-profit company in 2000, WRAP is backed by government funding from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland , and Wales
3. For more information on Love Food Hate Waste and fresher for longer visit lovefoodhatewaste.com
4. Download and use the new fresher for longer artwork including posters and postcards here
5. The full research report can be found here More information on all of WRAP's programmes can be found on wrap.org.uk
6. *Helping consumers reduce fruit and vegetable waste September 2008By keeping fruit and vegetables in their original packaging in the fridge they will keep up to two weeks longer.
7. ** £270 per family (the value of good food and drink that’s thrown away because it’s “not used in time”).
8. Customers can find useful food storage tips via M&S’s Plan A website:
9. Kate Fox ditties used as part of the social media campaign.

1. Adam Elman, Head of Plan A Delivery at M&S, said: “By reducing the amount of packaging we use and ensuring its easily recyclable, we’ve worked hard to make it as easy as possible for our customers to live more sustainably. Packaging plays an important role in protecting the quality and freshness of our food, which is why we feature on-pack storage advice and continue to introduce innovative packaging that keeps food fresher for longer.

We’re delighted to be part of this new campaign which is a win-win for our customers – not only will it help them to keep their food fresh, but it will reduce their food waste and save them money too.”

1. Dick Searle, Packaging Federation stated: “The Packaging Federation is very pleased to be working with this wide stakeholder group to examine the role of packaging. This will help enable us all to reduce food waste. The Fresher for Longer campaign will highlight the ways that the food that we buy can continue to be well protected until it is eaten.”
2. Councillor Paul Barrington-King, Chairman of the Kent Waste Partnership, said: “The Fresher for Longer’ campaign is a 'win-win-win' for consumers, taxpayers, and industry. Throwing away as much uneaten food as we do in England makes no sense financially or environmentally. Any and all advice to consumers to blow away long-held myths and to do some small adjustments on how we store food in the home has got to be the way forward.”
3. “Jane Bickerstaffe, INCPEN, said: “INCPEN is delighted to be working with WRAP, Kent Waste Partnership, the Food and Drink Federation, the Packaging Federation and the British Retail Consortium. Together we can show consumers how packaging helps them reduce their environmental footprint by keeping the food they need safe and fresh on its journey to the shops. And also how, thanks to packaging, they can keep food fresher for longer at home.”
4. David Bellamy, Food and Drink Federation said:”The Food and Drink Federation is delighted to be working with WRAP and the other project partners on this important piece of consumer research. We believe the ‘Fresher for longer’ campaign will finally bring home to consumers that good packaging does actually save waste”
5. Alice Ellison, British Retail Consortium said: “I hope this research helps to end the demonisation of packaging. We have long said that appropriate use of packaging preserves food and reduces waste. Grocery retailers have already achieved notable reductions in food and packaging waste through working with WRAP on the Courtauld Commitment targets and the Love Food Hate Waste campaign. This report should stimulate further reductions in food waste by promoting the role that packaging plays in keeping food fresher for longer in the home.”

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Seona Shuttleworth

PR Officer

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