Savvy shoppers seek out 'expired' food to combat rising grocery prices

Monday, 14 November 2022

Shoppers are becoming more price-conscious.

Short-dated food and groceries past their best-before date are a way of saving money for a growing number of households.

With food prices growing at a rate not seen in 14 years, shoppers are looking for ways to keep costs down, fuelling an emerging opportunity for end-of-the-line grocery items.

Stats NZ said food inflation sat at an annual rate of 10.1% in October, the highest rate since 2008.

Grocery prices rose 9.7% in October, while fruit and vegetable prices rose 17%.

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Shawn Thomas, founder of Christchurch-based food outlet store BargainMe, said consumers were increasingly looking for “alternative shopping” and turning to short-dated groceries in droves to keep the rising cost of food down.

“We’ve definitely seen an increase in people walking in through the door, and the way people are thinking in terms of their buying strategy.

“People tell me they are going to go into a Mad Butcher, into a Frozen Direct, into my store, then stop by a veggie shop, and that’s how their route for shopping is going to go.

“This is what I hear from customers on a daily basis when they are in store; they are not shopping in the big supermarkets, they want to go and see where they can save - even if it is $10 or $20 per department of their shopping trolley.”

BargainMe specialises in short-dated groceries and items past their best-before dates, selling everything from UHT milk to frozen foods, pet food, chocolate, biscuits and other dried snacks.

Shawn Thomas, owner of Christchurch-based BargainMe.

Some of the goods it sells are three months after their best-before date, while other items are close to the use-by date or feature damaged packaging.

On average its goods are around two weeks past the use-by date.

Thomas said business was “booming” and demand began to take off at the end of August.

He said consumers appeared to now be more willing to eat old food.

“There has been a steady increase in business, we’re getting more and more customers, which is influencing us to buy more products and contact different suppliers.”

Thomas said BargainMe was different to other end-of-the-line outlet food stores because it repacked the majority of its goods after receiving them in bulk from the likes of Griffin’s and Tip Top, allowing for extra savings.

“Something like UHT Sanitarium milk, it gives around four to six weeks after the best-before date to be used, and because the price is so good compared to the supermarkets, people are willing to give it a go.

“It is $4 or $5 in the supermarkets for a 1 litre UHT milk and we’re selling it for $1, so for the consumer that has a really big impact and once they give it a go and see there is no issue with it that’s how we’re getting return customers. They come back and do a bigger shop.”

BargainMe had begun expanding into new categories and had recently started stocking vegan goods, which were flying out the door, he said.

“When we see vegan products come on clearance we just buy the lot, as we know we have loyal customers and they keep coming in.”

BargainMe stocks about 2000 products and wants to grow its range to 8000.

The single-store brand has its sights set on opening a store in the North Island, and would look to open its first North Island store in Auckland in six months’ time, Thomas said.

Auckland has a fair share of food outlet stores. West Auckland-based Why Knot Outlet Shop has become increasingly popular, including with influencers on Instagram posting about getting savvy with their food shopping. Chain retailer Reduced To Clear operates 11 stores throughout the country.

Reduced To Clear founder and owner Sean Hills said customer numbers were increasing by the day as consumers looked for new ways to save more money.

“Everything is going up in price everywhere and if you can save a little bit of food each week and come in and buy the bargains or clearance lines that we have you can save quite a bit.

“People come in and save what they can and then go to the supermarket afterwards to top up the rest of the stuff. It has been happening this whole year as prices have been increasing like crazy,” Hills said.

Reduced To Clear sells short-dated stock, goods from cancelled export orders and end of packaging lines. It claims to be 50% cheaper than groceries bought elsewhere.

“We have quite a bit [of stock] at the moment from containers coming in that aren’t getting through quick enough so the dates are short and past best befores. Whatever we can do to try and buy it and sell it cheaper to the public is what we do.”

The chain retailer opened its first store in 2008, and is looking to open two more stores in response to increased demand over the next six to 12 months.

“We get about 50 emails a week asking us to open more stores. It’s nice to know people want us in their area, we’ve just got to find the right shops.”

Hills fears food prices are going to continue to increase. He said he was being slapped with supplier price increases of more than 10% every week and had no choice but to pass these on to the consumer.

Retail NZ chief executive Greg Harford said consumers were increasingly “trading down brands” and frequently breaking up their food shops into multiple shops to find cost savings.

“Kiwis are looking for a range of providers because everyone at the moment is concerned about the cost of living,” said Harford.

“What we are seeing is people are … buying cheaper house brands, perhaps buying smaller packets of things. All of what we would normally see in a recessionary environment.

“If you’ve got a bit less money or a bit less economic certainty about what is going on, you’ll be looking to do what you can within your budget and that means that is good news for cheaper products and for those businesses that might sit outside some of the more traditional channels.”