Marks&Spencer

[Carol Anne]

I have never seen anything reduced for quick sale in an M&S grocery hall, yet this evening I saw so much stuff being taken off the shelves and being graded onto a trolley as 'expired waste' and 'quality waste'. As they don't sell it cheap to customers does anyone know what they do with it? Seems a terrible waste if they just chuck it out.

[Oneeyedvic]

13years ago they used to give it to homeless charities. I would assume they still do. they have never shouted about it though.

The only reason I know is that I was homeless for a while when I was 18.

[Carol Anne]

Pity that the other supermarkets don't follow suit.

[kempie]

Carol Anne - you will be surprised then that others such as ASDA, Co-op and Sainsbury also donate 'surplus' food to charities for the homeless.

[Carol Anne]

And so they should too! Although I would say that it is the customers of these firms who ultimately pay for everything, surplus and all.

[AllYourBase]

Some of the qaulity waste is sold to the staff at a massive discount. When my parents worked for M&S we ate nothing but whatever was short dated - our freezer was always full!

[stevie21]

"And so they should too! "

Why should they exactly? When something in my fridge is going out of date, I chuck it in the bin. I don't rush to give it to the littlest hobo. Why on earth should M&S be any different?

I bet 90% of people who get on their high horse about what M&S or any other corporate conglomerate do "for the community" do ****** all themselves.

rant over :-)

[qapmoc]

Hi carol anne, yes the customers do pay in some way for this 'backdoor' charity system but is that a problem?

As many people don't give openly to charities this is nice easy way to ditrubute some of the excess wealth that exists in the population generally.

[WoWo]

It's not true that these companies give stuff away to charity, at least not on a regular basis.

The reason being it's open to abuse, the bakery for example could bake extra bread that they know will go to the homeless, or managers could order lots of extra stock knowing it won't go to waste if it doesn't sell.

I know this because I was a manager at one of the major chains for about 8 years. If it didn't sell it went in the bid (after being offered at a reduced price). But to be honest in the grand scheme of things very little was thrown away.

[ursula62]

M&S in Kilburn used to give all the food with only one day left on the sell by date to a convent who fed homeless people. The nuns used to turn up in a battered old mini and fill it up with boxes of food.

Years ago when I was a nurse at St Mary's M&S sent in fruit platters for the patients and staff.

My neighbour is a supervisor at M&S and she gets the opportunity to buy ready meals cheaply at the end of the day. She also says they use up stuff in the staff canteen when it gets near the sell by date.

[Ouisch]

Suppose someone at the homeless shelter became ill by eating expired food? Would M&S be liable?

[Kos]

Give it to charity? You're 'avin' a larf! All that goes to charity is the stuff the staff don't buy at ridiculous prices.

Next time you're at the tills in Sainsburys, see how many staff are queing to buy reduced goods at the end of their shift AND getting an extra 10% discount!!

Yes- I'm jealous!

[pagey]

M&S No longer give food away - it is all thrown away (at least in my local stores). They said it was down to legal issues (ie illness form expired foods) that they could no longer do it. M&S NEVER reduce perishable items for quick sale - but there are many retailers that don't (like exepensive 'ready to eat' sandwich/coffee bars. It would be seen to cheapen thier food and would be a less profitable alternative to the customer just buying the food they want at full price.

[UsAndStuff]

Hi Kos,
Noticed your little jibe at sainsbury's staff getting stuff cheap.
My wife used to work for them, and yes, they do get stuff cheap, however, they also work for just just over minimum wage, and had to book christmas day off as holiday even though the store was closed, so a little perk was appreciated once in a while.

And the items sold to staff were either items that the customers didn't want as reduced, or items they couldn't sell to customers such as bread with no date on etc.

Not a complaint, just pointing out that they're not as lucky as you may think they are.

[Carol Anne]

I've just discovered that the food hall at Bearsden does reduce late date items for quick sale. I've just purchased two �4.50 ready meals for �1 each. Is this a first?