Buying loose fruit & veg
The more we can buy loose, the bigger the benefits for us and our world
What's the point?
We’re all aware that the planet is struggling and changing and sometimes it’s hard to know what to do. Here is something easy to do to play your part, buy your fruit and veg loose where you can.
Here’s the take away…
that if all apples, bananas and potatoes were sold loose instead of in bags sold by weight, we could save 60,000 tonnes of food waste each year!
that’s 8.2 million shopping baskets
Gino's got the idea - Choose what you'll use
Being conscious of what and how we buy of food can make a huge difference to what we eat, reducing how much we through away, reduction in climate change and potentially to how much we spend…
Getting the good stuff
Take our Buying loose fruit and veg quiz
Receive tailored tips and advice on how you can buy, prep and store your food so it doesn’t go to waste.
It takes 1-2 minutes to complete. We’ll share tailored advice on how to get the most from the food you buy based on your views on a small range of topics.
Start buying loose fruit and veg today
Write a flexible meal plan for the week
Take stock of what you already have in the kitchen, and take a few minutes to write a flexible meal plan for the week ahead.
Make a list of what you’ll need
When you know what you’re planning to cook, you’ll know exactly what ingredients you’ll need to top up on. To help you buy the right amount, use our handy Portion Calculator.
Stick to the list
When you’re in the supermarket or doing your online shop, tick things off your list and only buy the exact quantity you need from the loose fruit and veg section.
What are the benefits?
- Quantity – for example, you may only need one carrot for your stew, not a whole 1kg bag.
- Quality – pick the exact produce you like the look of
- Colour – some people like their bananas on the greener side, and some prefer them overripe. You can pick your favourite when you buy loose.
- Size / shape – having jacket potatoes? Choose the right size for every family member – bigger for bigger appetites and smaller for the kids.
- Less plastic – reduce the amount of unnecessary plastic packaging when you buy loose.
To help you further
More about buying loose
- Food shopping
- Food storage
- Save time and money
Buy loose, use what you buy: your new food shopping mantra
What if we were to tell you that there’s a simple action you can take when you’re at the supermarket or doing your online shop that could help save tens of thousands of tonnes of food each year?
It's embarrassing when your fruit or veg gets wasted, see the hilarious video from UKTV
