Tesco, a grocery and general merchandise retailer in the UK, has revealed that it generated 28,500 tons of food waste in the first six months of the year, across its entire operations.
In line with its efforts to cut food waste, the retailer is launching measures, including developing promotions for smaller bags of salad.
Around 68% of bagged salads is being wasted with 35% of it coming from home, according to the food waste figures published by the company.
Tesco has tracked the 25 bestselling grocery products from farm to fork to gain a detailed understanding of where food waste occurs.
The data also estimated that 40% of apples are wasted with over a quarter of that waste occurring in the home, half of bakery items are wasted, quarter of grapes and fifth of all bananas are being wasted.
Tesco Group Food commercial director Matt Simister said, "Little changes can make a big difference, like storing fruit and veg in the right way.
"We're working with our suppliers to try to cut waste at all stages of the journey from farm to fork."
Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) figures published in 2011 estimated that 15 million tons of food waste is being generated in the UK each year.
WRAP director Richard Swannell said, "Food waste is a global issue and collaborative action is essential if we are to successfully reduce food waste and reap the financial and environmental benefits of doing so."
