UK grocer Sainsbury’s is set to open a pop-up store, ‘Sainsfreeze’, to show consumers how to save surplus food going to waste and help them save money.
In a move that shows the retailer tackling issues around the cost-of-living crisis and sustainability, the walk-in freezer concept store will appear at Boxpark, Shoreditch between 27-28 September.
The retailer said Sainsfreeze will resemble a regular Sainsbury’s from the outside, but once inside customers will see frozen groceries that they would usually buy fresh. There will be shelves stacked with fruit and veg, dairy, meat, fish, and baked goods – but everything will be frozen – and it will all be available for free.
The retailer has promised to showcase food frozen “in innovative ways to help save space and keep food for longer”, which it said can help reduce food waste if adopted by households across the UK.
Ideas on display will include mixing wilting herbs with oil or water and freezing into ice cube trays, which can be used in soups and stews, as well as portioning minced meat and freezing flat to save space. The retailer hopes Sainsfreeze will help teach customers multiple new ways to freeze food that allows them to reduce waste in their homes.
Sainsbury’s has previously committed to halving food waste across its operations by 2030, and is also focused on several projects aimed at reducing its impact on the environment.
Ruth Cranston, director of corporate responsibility & sustainability at Sainsbury’s, commented: “Innovative freezing not only allows us to save food we would otherwise have thrown away, but also to buy reduced food close to its use-by date, saving even more money on the weekly grocery bill.”
Catherine David, director of collaboration & change at Wrap, a climate action NGO, said: “We need to look at our food storage and how we can ensure we waste as little as possible.
“Sainsfreeze will certainly help inform people about storing their food, and what unexpected items they’re able to freeze to guarantee less food is wasted. With food waste costing the average household with children around £730 a year, and particularly in the current climate as we’re all looking for ways to save money wherever we can, this is really going to help our food last longer.”
She added: “It would be great to see more of these rolled out across the country and reach more people.”
Sainsbury’s said to ensure no food from the Sainsfreeze project is wasted, it will pass on any surplus supplies to it food redistribution charity partner, FareShare. The pop-up store will be open from 10am to 6pm on both days of its tenure in east London.
[Image credits: Sainsbury’s]
