Shoppers throw out €400 a year in food waste
In new research, commissioned by Aldi, it was also found that only 13% of all adults never dispose of unused food.
The €400 which we each waste annually is the equivalent spend of an average family’s monthly grocery shop.
Fruit and vegetables are the most common foods we throw away, followed by bread, dairy products and then fresh meat.
The research coincides with a new partnership between Aldi and an Irish FoodCloud, a not-for-profit organisation which redistributes unused food. The partnership will see Aldi stores donating 500,000 meals to 172 charity partners in 2016, with the aim of reducing food poverty.
FoodCloud’s chief executive Iseult Ward said we waste 1m tonnes of food every year in Ireland and one in eight people suffer from food poverty.
“The new research shows just how much money is lost each week by households through food wastage. Our new national partnership with Aldi will hugely increase the scale and the number of charities we can help each day, making an incredible difference to local communities,” Ms Ward said. The Irish Cancer Society and St Vincent de Paul are some charities that will benefit.
