It is barely 10 o'clock this Saturday morning in January at the Carrefour des Ulis hypermarket (Essonne) and already the ferry located near the butchery department is half empty. This is where customers can find products that are soon expired (often within two to three days) on sale. "Short date at a reduced price, it is better to take advantage of it than to waste it", indicates a big blue sign.
This morning, we thus find three Carrefour brand duck fillets to be consumed the same day at - 50%, a turkey leg expired the next day at € 1.22 (instead of € 2.43) or even stirred nature Activia at half price (€ 1.08 for 8 to eat in two days). Sophie, in her forties, throws herself on these yogurts and on two packs of 6 slices of Brocéliande ham, also at 50%, expired five days later. “I have three children at home. My fridge runs out quickly and so does my wallet, ”she says, as her weekly shopping budget often approaches € 100. "Each time, I come here to find good deals," she adds.
"It allows us to have fun"
Madeleine and Henry, 69 and 70, with "just under 2,500 € in retirement", are also used to digging in this bin. "This allows us to have fun," says Madeleine, pointing to these quails at € 2.75 and this hummus at € 0.98, two products to be enjoyed over the weekend and whose prices were cut in half. . "You have to go through often because the sellers fill the bin several times a day," she breathes.
In recent years, major brands - Carrefour, Auchan, Leclerc, Intermarché, etc. - have been selling off their products on short dates, to clear their stocks, limit unsold items and offer good deals to their customers. "In 2008, I calculated that I had 1 to 2% of unsold goods per day and, since then, I have done everything to reduce them, in particular by creating an anti-aspi zone", describes Thomas Pocher, owner of the Leclerc centers from Templeuve-en-Pévèle and Wattrelos (North).
Twelve years later, this antigaspi zone represents 0.5% of its overall turnover. "It may not seem like much, but if we do nothing about it, our customers are not happy," he says. Also at Lidl, success is there: “Since 2016, our fruit and vegetable crates from 5 kg to 1 € leave like hotcakes,” adds Michel Biero, the store's executive purchasing director.
The closer the DLC, the higher the discount
Sometimes, like at Franprix, products approaching the deadline remain on their shelves. But most of the brands prefer to dedicate dedicated spaces to them. And if each has its own sales policy, commonalities emerge.
For DLC products (expiration date, the famous "to consume until"), discounts sometimes begin at D - 6 but, most often, the products are sold at D-2. The same day, these articles are sold at 50% or more. At Lidl, "a rib steak which usually costs € 7.49 is offered at € 0.50", continues Michel Biero. For DDM (date of minimum durability, which is equivalent to “better product before such date”), promotions can start one month before the date. It is then a double jackpot because not only do consumers get a brioche, rice or a box of cassoulet on sale, but since the DDM is only indicative, they can keep them beyond the date.
All of these promotions are legal. Indeed, if, since February 2019, the Egalim law limits rebates to 34% in value, perishable products, "as soon as they are threatened with rapid deterioration", are not affected.
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Most distributors have also partnered with Too Good to Go (“Too good to be thrown away”), born in 2016: thanks to this app, downloaded by 6 million consumers and 12 million merchants (including large retailers), everyone can choose to go to such a business, the same evening, to collect a basket containing the unsold products of the day equivalent to a full meal. All three times cheaper. "Some users, who order 30 baskets per month, only eat through this," said Lucie Basch, founder of Too Good to Go.
In this fight against food waste, brands are thinking of going even further. While 38 players in the food industry (Danone, Monoprix, Bel, etc.) signed a pact on expiration dates at the end of January, Carrefour is preparing to sell products with DDM exceeded by one month maximum after having made a end-of-year test in 14 hypermarkets in Brittany.
Lidl is also considering installing similar corners. “It's a real change for the consumer. You have to support him so that he understands that he risks nothing from consuming these products, recalls Bernard Swiderski, the sustainable development director of Carrefour. And if he stops throwing them away, it's also gain in purchasing power. "