BFFF’s ‘Frozen Food Revolution’ campaign to combat UK’s rising food waste

The BFFF has launched the second year of its Frozen Food Revolution campaign, which aims to address food waste by highlighting how buying frozen foods can help reduce the amount of food people discard.

According to the latest figures on food waste, UK households are binning, on average, the equivalent of eight meals a week UK Food Waste & food Surplus – Key Facts, WRAP (updated November 2023).

With eight million individuals experiencing food poverty in the UK (according to The Food Foundation, 2024), the average household wasting 14kg of edible food per month (UK Food Waste & food Surplus – Key Facts, WRAP (updated November 2023) indicates that there is significant improvement needed by all of us in the way we manage food in our homes.

The initiative emphasises that frozen food can improve household food management, making meal planning easier, more cost-effective, and sustainable. Replacing fresh ingredients with frozen equivalents, which have longer storage lives, could mean less food is thrown away.

But, according to product intelligence platform Vypr, over 85 per cent of consumers hold back from frozen food purchases because of a lack of freezer space. In fact, 60 per cent of consumers would buy more frozen meats and fish, and 53 per cent would purchase more frozen vegetables and fruit, if they had more room. The BFFF’s campaign aims to spread the word about the benefits of frozen, and influence people to look more closely at what is in their freezers.

The BFFF argues that with frozen food, households can also manage portions more easily and only use what they need, cutting down on unnecessary waste. Pre-prepared frozen products can also help to cut down on food like potato peel ending up in the bin.

Vypr data shows that only 7% of British consumers visit the frozen food section first, with the majority starting their shopping in the chilled section, a behaviour the BFFF is hoping to challenge with the campaign.

Rupert Ashby, chief executive officer of the BFFF, noted that with the Frozen Food Revolution 2024, the federation want to highlight the ways in which frozen food can improve household food management, making meal planning easier, more cost-effective, and sustainable.

“The variety of foods available frozen has also increased hugely in recent years, so we’re encouraging any shoppers who might not normally make a trip to the frozen aisle of the supermarket to check it out and try something new,” he explained.

“Frozen food is generally cheaper than fresh equivalents, but what many people don’t realise is that the key reason for that is that there is so much less waste in the supply chain, so it’s a win-win. Chilled products such as soft fruits get squashed, vegetables bruise, and transportation delays impact shelf life, and that is all reflected in increased cost to the buyer in the chilled aisle.

“The Vypr data shows that 62 per cent of consumers think frozen food is high quality, but a third find the variety available too limited, so retailers have an opportunity to attract more customers by expanding their frozen ranges.

“We also want people to get to love their freezer and make it part of their weekly meal planning. To help with that, we’ve compiled a list of ‘five feasts from the freezer’, suggesting delicious combinations of some of the items commonly found in UK freezers.

“At a time when millions are struggling to put food on the table, it’s unacceptable that we are throwing so much away. A big part of the solution lies in better management of our food, and frozen food is a big part of that.”

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