Tesco to Give Away Expiring Food to Customers

U.K. retailer piloting end-of-day freebies at select Express stores

3/27/2025

Tesco, which already offers lower prices on produce that is nearing expiration, is taking its waste-reduction efforts a step further.

Many grocers are curbing food waste and improving access to healthy food by selling about-to-expire produce at a discount, donating items to food bank partners or teaming with other providers to upcycle perishable products. In the U.K., a leading retailer is taking another tack, in a move that may inspire other such programs around the world.

According to a report by the BBC News, Tesco is embarking on a pilot test of giving away expiring food to its smaller-format Express store customers at the end of the business day. Nonprofit partners and store associates have first dibs on the items, and shoppers would get a chance to pick up the perishables at no cost after 9:30 p.m. local time if any leftover products remain in the store. The fruits, vegetables and other fresh products will be tagged with yellow stickers.

This would be the first giveaway of its kind in Britain, the BBC noted. “We are constantly looking for innovative new ways to reduce food waste,” a Tesco spokesperson told the news outlet.

Tesco operates 4,506 stores globally and 3,786 stores in the U.K. According to the company’s annual report, reducing waste is one of its six pillars of its “planet plan,” as it targets a 50% reduction in food loss across its entire supply chain by 2030. “Our approach to packaging is informed by our 4Rs strategy: remove what we can; reduce what we can’t; reuse more; and recycle what’s left,” the annual report declared.

Advertisement - article continues below