We take the issue of food waste incredibly seriously, and believe that we have the lowest wastage levels of any food retailer in the world (less than 0.3% of sales). We’re crusading hard to help our customers to reduce food waste, after learning that up to 30% of food bought in this country ends up in the bin!

As far as we know, we were the first online food retailer anywhere in the world to show guaranteed product life on our website; something we can do thanks to our unique business model. Unlike other online stores, we keep track of everything we sell from the second it enters our warehouse to the moment we deliver it to you. As a result, we can tell you at the checkout exactly how long your groceries will stay fresh.

We also print ‘use-by’ dates on each order receipt to help customers to plan meals and make sure that nothing goes to waste. And because we print our receipts on 100% recycled paper, every part of the delivery is as green as possible.

Want to know more about the Ocado food chain?

Our warehouse

Our Customer Fulfilment Centre (CFC) is comparable in size to 20 traditional supermarkets, and generates between five and nine tonnes of food waste per week. Our competitors are producing this amount of waste from a single store every week!

Our Life guarantee

Thanks to our streamlined fulfilment system, the journey time for produce from grower or supplier to your fridge or cupboard is incredibly short. That means you get longer to enjoy it, which, in turn, means less waste. It’s all part of our pioneering Life guarantee.

Using up our leftovers

Company shop

Food that is still in date, but too close to its ‘use-by’ date to deliver to customers, is sold at a discount in our staff shop.

Charities

Food that we can’t sell in our staff shop, but is fine to eat, is donated to the following charities: Vineyard in Southend; YMCA in Hemel Hempstead, and New Hope in Watford.

Paradise Safari Park

Any food that isn’t fit for company shop or charities, but is still edible, is sent to Paradise Safari Park in Broxbourne. (It’s nice to know the animals enjoy quality groceries as much as the rest of us!)

Anaerobic digestion

We’re trialling anaerobic digestion at present. That’s a process where food that is no use is sent to be mixed with bacteria and burnt to produce electricity.

* Data from WRAP’s Love Food Hate Waste “Tracker” research from the last 12 months, in conjunction with data from The Food We Waste report (http://www.wrap.org.uk/retail/case_studies_research/report_the_food_we.html).