Top 5 Tips to Reduce Food Wastage

Due to its dense population, Hong Kong suffers from a severe food waste problem. In 2020, there were some 10,809 tonnes and 30% of this waste was food. In 2021, Phenix was launched in Hong Kong as a joint venture with OnTheList. The app allows consumers and F&B outlets to repurpose unsold food at discounts of 50-70%. One year later, it has welcomed more than 150 F&B partners, including Pret A Manger, Feather & Bone and RF1 SOZAI by city'super. Phenix creates a mystery basket with delicious goodies that would otherwise go to waste. The consumer can purchase all the mystery baskets available in his or her area and then pick them up at the store. Here, the brand shares with us five tips to reduce food wastage.

Phenix's Top 5 Tips to Reduce Food Wastage:

1) Differentiate Between The Best-Before Date And Use-By Date

I would say that this tip can help you to reduce most of your food waste! Most people are unaware that certain products can be consumed after their expiry date. But did you also know that there are 2 types of expiry dates?

The Use by Date
The Best Before Date (BBD)

The Use by date indicates when a product is no longer safe to eat, for example fish or meat. While the Best before date is an indication referring to the quality of the product rather than the safety. It means that most of the items with a BBD can still be consumed after that date is passed.

Here are a few examples :

Hard cheeses: Safe to consume one month after expiry date
Eggs: Place an egg in a cup of water. If it sinks, it is still safe to eat. If it floats, then you can throw it away
Bread: You can still eat it even if it dries up. Be creative and use it to make bread pudding!
Dry pasta/rice: You can still eat it after a [few] years
Canned food: If it is stored in good temperature conditions, it is still good to eat a few years after BBD

The golden rule to know if a product is still good to consume is to look, smell and taste. If you don’t see any defects, and the smell and the taste seem normal, then it’s totally okay to eat it!

2) Avoid Grocery Shopping When You Are Hungry

When you are hungry, you tend to make compulsive purchases and buy unnecessary items that might end up in waste. This is a way to save money without creating additional waste. Most of the time, reducing food waste comes with a change in consumption behaviour.

3) Make Sure You Don’t Over-Order At Restaurants

Similar to my previous tip, you should consider what you are able to finish in one meal. We tend to order way too much food while eating out either because we want to try various dishes or we are simply feeling hungry. But we end up leaving half of the food on our plates. When this happens, do not hesitate to ask for a doggy bag and bring back home your leftovers!

It is also the responsibility of restaurants to recommend a number of dishes according to the portions, and also consider downsizing portions whenever possible.

4) Organise Your Fridge

Not everyone knows it, but each area in your fridge has a different temperature and therefore an optimised purpose for specific use. Also, keeping your fridge at a maximum temperature of 4 Celsius degrees is a way to increase your food shelf life, otherwise bacteria can easily develop.

Here is how you should organise your fridge :

5) Store Products In Your Freezer

Whenever you have leftovers or any food you cannot consume before it turns to waste, you can always keep it in the freezer. This will significantly increase the shelf life by a few additional months.

However, beware as frozen items that were previously defrosted cannot be frozen again as it won’t be safe to eat, due to bacteria development.