Tesco tries to cut waste with BOGOF Later scheme
November 20, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Buy One Get One Free offers are an extremely effective marketing tool for supermarkets. After all, there’s nothing guaranteed to bring a smile to a shopper’s face like getting something for nothing. However, how often have you ended up throwing away the free item because you have not been able to use it in time?
There has been much publicity recently about the fact that in the UK a staggering one third of all the food that we buy ends up in the dustbin. Not only does this cost our pockets dearly, to the tune of around £420 a year for the average household, but there is also a huge environmental cost. 6.7 million tonnes of food go to waste each year and if this was stopped it would be equivalent, in terms of carbon emissions, to taking 20% of all cars off the road.
Now it looks as though Tesco are trying to do something about the problem, with an announcement a few days ago of a BOGOF Later scheme. This will mean that shoppers are given a voucher entitling them to their free item at a later date. It is hoped that the new initiative will start in stores before Christmas.
Tesco are proud of their “green consumer revolution” citing their competitive prices on items such as low energy light bulbs and low impact washing powder as evidence that they mean business.
Friends of the Earth on the other hand are sceptical, with a spokesperson saying that if Tesco want to help the planet it will take more than replacing BOGOFS with BOGOFLS.
