Denmark has taken another step in combating excessive food waste.
Following its success in selling expired food items, the supermarket Wefood in Copenhagen has opened a second branch in the capital just nine months after it became Denmark’s first ever food surplus supermarket.
The opening, in a trendy neighbourhood, attracted long queues of people keen to snap up cut-price bargains in items past their sell-by dates but still edible.
Other items simply have damaged packaging or issues with labelling. This means while they might have lost their value to regular outlets, consumers can benefit.
The products must be safe to consume and accord with Danish food legislation.
All the products on offer are donated by producers or supermarkets. Wefood is staffed by volunteers and the profits made are donated to charity.
The daily offerings range dramatically as they depend on what is available from donors, but prices go some way to alleviate the uncertainly as items cost between 30% and 50% off.
Preventing food waste is a big issue in a world where millions of people are condemned to hunger. In the last five years, Denmark has brought down the amount of food wasted by 25% but still bins 700,000 tonnes of food a year.
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, nearly 1.3 billion tonnes of food gets trashed every year and that amount could feed about 1 million people.
