4 minute read
Saving food from landfills
l “Sell by” and “best before by” dates can be confusing and can often lead to far more wasted food than is justifiable. l Safe options for environmentally-aware consumers are a welcome solution. l Terence Hon, co-founder of GreenPrice, explains how his company’s retail outlets make it possible for food that is near its expiry date can be sold at a discount and eaten while it is still good to eat. l 五花八門的食物標籤例如「保質期限」和「此 日期前最佳」容易造成混亂，甚至導致不必要 的食物浪費。 l 著重環保意識的顧客或有其他安全可靠的新 出路。 l 綠惜超市（GreenPrice）創辦人之一韓駿謙 （Terence）分享其零售店如何以優惠價格售賣 將會過期，但仍可安全食用的食品。
Should we buy food that is near its sell-by date? That’s a good question and one that Terence Hon and the co-founders of GreenPrice take to heart. Their startup sells prepackaged food and other products with date labels that are near to expiry. The goal is to save them from landfills.
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Founded in Hong Kong in 2016 and based on an idea that began life as an entry for a social innovation competition, GreenPrice has come a long way in five years. “We have five outlets selling surplus and short-dated stock sourced both locally and overseas,” Terence explains. “Our aim is to reduce waste while offering products at much lower prices.”
A quick look at the company’s website proves his point. Popular snacks, honey and breakfast cereals are available at half-price. A bottle of Dettol hand-wash liquid is going for HK$10, almost a quarter of the original price. “Our products can’t be sold at the regular price because of the date label or because packaging is slightly damaged. However, “best before” dates on packaging are there to give you clues regarding freshness, taste, fragrance and texture. “If stored properly, many prepackaged goods are safe for consumption beyond the dates on the labels,” he continues.
Over 3,200 tonnes of food waste are produced in Hong Kong each day. Retailers and distributors dispose of many millions of expired food items. “We serve as the last mile disposal outlet to lighten the burden on the local environment.” says Terence.
His clients understand what is at issue and they can exercise independent judgement at GreenPrice stores in Central, Wan Chai and Quarry Bay, in Kwun Tong and Kwai Fong. “Our target customers are mostly middle-class professionals in their late 20s to early 40s. They are environmentally aware.” Most GreenPrice customers buy mainly prepackaged food and snacks, as well as nutrition supplements, skin care products and luxury brand cosmetics sourced at duty free or specialty shops.
The startup has also adopted an ingenious mechanism that uses an e-price tag which is adjusted daily in order to ensure that as much as possible avoids ending up in a landfill. “There is a back-end algorithm to adjust the price and it has been quite accurate so far.” Anything remaining after the GreenPrice deadline is donated to community organizations.
It takes Terence and his team many of hours of negotiation with suppliers to ensure that items in their shops as well as those that are donated are safe for consumption for a short period beyond “best before” dates. They work with specialists in the field of regulatory compliance and nutrition to achieve this. Last year, Terence recalls, “Representatives from the HKBU Chemical Testing Laboratory picked two relatively risky samples from our store for microbiological examination and E. coli count - the major bacteria causing food poisoning – and both samples were at an acceptable level.”
Maintaining stocks with the highest safety standards is commendable and this environmentally-friendly concept is warmly welcome, especially in big cities such as Hong Kong that have an acute serious waste problem. Similar models can be found in Europe, the US and the UK. Even when standardized food labelling becomes a reality instead of a plethora of misleading terms on packaging, they have an important role to play that is both educational and ecofriendly.
p GreenPrice founders Web greenprice.hk/pages/ best-before-concept Winner Favourite Social Innovation Business Award, HKFYG Social Innovation Challenge 2017
Guidance or law
In Hong Kong, as in Australia, New Zealand and the European Union, “best before” and “use by” dates are a compulsory form of date marking that provide consumers with a guide to the shelf life of prepackaged food. But have you ever sniffed at food in your fridge that has just passed the “best before” date and wondered if it is still safe to eat? “Use by” dates are usually a more reliable guide than “best before” when making a decision and they are normally found on perishable food. However, currently, there is no definitive list of which foods should carry a particular type of date mark. Producers and manufacturers bear the responsibility of guiding consumers but we as individuals can also use our own discretion.
