At the end of November, after the Seimas allowed the sale of food that is safe and suitable for consumption after the minimum expiration date, the retail chain "NorfaManager Dainius Dundulis claims that he does not intend to make changes in the store he manages. According to him, "Norfa" has very small write-offs, so there is no need for it.
"We are not in a hurry to make any decisions, we certainly will not change anything from January 1, we will continue to work as we have been working and then we will see how the events unfold." Frankly, we have very small write-offs. We don't have thousands of tons of write-offs, and we don't have this problem, except for vegetables, but there is no validity in them. We can sell them, but no one buys them anymore," said D. Dundulis to "Žiniai Radio" on Monday.
"There is a two-pronged inventory management in the store. Especially in stores where there is a lack of turnover, according to the size of the shelves (…), the store needs to be loaded with goods to make it look nice. If it is not loaded, customers will be distrustful and then there is a possibility that he will visit less," he asserted.
D. Dundulis explained that there are retail chains that write off goods a lot, but Norfa does not have this problem. According to him, only fruits and vegetables are written off, but they do not have an expiration date, and write-offs may increase during the Christmas period.
"I know that some chains load a lot of goods and then write off a lot, they really have a problem, but since we always aim to sell cheaper, we cannot allow a lot of writing off and we try to arrange everything by other means so that there are no excess goods," said Norfa manager.
"With us, write-offs are very small, except for the Christmas period, it is difficult, we don't know how much will be bought and write-offs increase at that time, but at all other times we do not write-off much, except for fruits and vegetables. We don't have a date for them," he noted.
At the end of November Seimas adopted the proposed amendments to the Food Law, which provide that food that is safe and suitable for consumption after the expiry of the minimum shelf life can be sold. The amendments will enter into force in 2024. January 1
It will also allow consumers to purchase and consume safe products for longer, thus reducing the amount of food waste generated in the retail trade.
From the new year, consumer awareness will be increased, that is, consumers will be encouraged to consume safe and high-quality food labeled "Best before..." despite its expiration date, thereby changing negative social norms towards this food and promoting interest in food differences between "Best by..." and "Use by..." markings.
It is estimated that the potential economic benefit of the amendment proposed by the draft Food Law would amount to 147,6 million. euros per year.
Ignas Dobrovolskas (ELTA)
