Waitrose shoppers receive fresh food with an average remaining shelf life of just 7.7 days, the shortest of all six major supermarkets tested in a new investigation by consumer group Which?. Asda performed best with an average of 11 days, while Tesco came second-worst at 8.8 days.
Which? investigation reveals wide gap in freshness
Which? compared the average remaining shelf life of perishable products across Asda, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose. The results show a gap of more than three days between the best and worst performing retailers.
Reena Sewraz, Which? retail editor, said: “When you pay for a supermarket delivery, you expect your fresh food to have a reasonable amount of time left on it. Our investigation found a striking difference between supermarkets, with some shoppers getting several days’ less time to use their groceries than others – and in some cases, just hours.”
Average remaining shelf life by supermarket
- Asda – 11 days
- Morrisons – 10.4 days
- Ocado – 10.4 days
- Sainsbury’s – 10.2 days
- Tesco – 8.8 days
- Waitrose – 7.7 days
Sewraz added: “It’s particularly hard to swallow when you’re paying premium prices but getting food with a much shorter shelf life. Supermarkets need to make sure their freshness promises actually deliver, so shoppers aren’t left having to change their meal plans, rush to use food or throw away groceries they’ve paid for.”
Ocado and Waitrose respond to findings
An Ocado spokesperson said: “We are proud of our Fresh+ promise, making us the only UK online grocery retailer to offer a life guarantee on all fresh products. Our promise guarantees a minimum number of days of freshness on products ranging from fruit and veg to bread and milk, ensuring customers can trust Ocado to deliver the freshness they are looking for on each and every delivery. If customers aren’t 100% happy with a product’s freshness, they can easily arrange an immediate refund online or through our app.”
A Waitrose spokesperson said: “We are committed to offering the freshest and highest quality products, reflected in our growing online grocery sales. And in response to increasing customer demand for products with simpler ingredients, we have removed preservatives from some of the items in this analysis where they are common, including our houmous. Our online grocery pickers are trained to choose the longest dated products they can, and our most recent customer survey showed that the vast majority of our online customers rated the shelf life of our products as good or excellent.”
The findings come as new rubbish rules are set to take effect from September 1 under Andy Burnham, described as 'for England only', which may further affect how shoppers manage food waste.
