Major British supermarket to give away free food as £0 ‘yellow stickers’ trial looks set to slash waste
13 March 2025, 08:33 | Updated: 13 March 2025, 09:27
A major British supermarket has announced it will start giving away free food in a bid to slash waste and bring it closer to its Net Zero goals.
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British high street supermarket Tesco has announced the introduction of £0 ‘yellow stickers’ on food that would otherwise be thrown in the bin.
At present, the supermarket's discounts are generally limited to a maximum 90 per cent discount.
Now, the £0 scheme will be tested in a small number of Tesco Express stores, with the stickers applied to items after 9.30pm.
It comes as shoppers are increasingly opting for discount products as the cost of living - notably the supermarket shop and energy bills - remain high.
Recent months have seen brawls break out in supermarket aisles as shoppers battle to bag a bargain from the 'reduced' fridges.
Other scenes have seen supermarkets including Tesco lock fridges and security tag fish and meat in a bid to reduce shoplifting.
Retailers are coming under increasing pressure to reduce waste and meet Net Zero targets.
At present, Tesco hands any unsold food items to charities - and this will continue, while staff will also get priority access to the reduced food items priced down earlier in the day, The Telegraph reports.
Internal memos sent by Tesco management said it would continue to give quantities of food to charities, with the supermarket set to "continue with our drive to reduce food waste within our own operations".
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A spokesman for the supermarket said: “We are constantly looking for innovative new ways to reduce food waste.
"This trial, in a small number of our Express stores, will allow customers to take any remaining yellow stickered items for free at the end of the day, after they have first been offered to charities and colleagues.”
It comes days after shoppers at the supermarket chain claimed Tesco is treating them like "thieves" as the retailer tests giant trolley scales in a Gateshead store.
The accusations came as Tesco began trialling the checkout scales at the Gateshead Trinity Square Extra store to identify items that customers may have missed or duplicated while using the supermarket’s Scan as You Shop service.
There have been mixed reactions about the huge trolley scales, with one user on Reddit likening the experience to “border control”.Another user quipped: “No clubcard? Deported!”
It also follows a shortage of bananas that hit UK supermarkets including Tesco last week, with many shelves left bare following a lack of supply.
Retailers blamed the shortage on tropical storms in the Pacific, with cargo ships left stranded in ports.
