Food Waste Action Week (17th – 23rd March 2025) is the flagship annual event delivered by WRAP’s Love Food Hate Waste brand.
Award-winning author, low waste chef and campaigner Max La Manna is this year’s Food Waste Action Week campaign ambassador. A recent Love Food Hate Waste survey indicates that UK adults who buy fresh fruit or vegetables prefer loose produce across 19 of the 21** fruits and vegetables included, and so does Max. He has brought to life the reality of how much pre-packaged fruit and vegetables (particularly potatoes) end up in the bin in a tongue in cheek home cooking video which demonstrates how ridiculous it is to throw away food you have just bought. For example, each year in UK homes 510,000 tonnes of potatoes are binned representing 46%*** of all potatoes bought.
Max La Manna said: ‘It floors me that we are throwing away so many potatoes every year before we have had chance to use them. Buying them loose would allow us to choose an amount we know we’d realistically use, whether that is one giant potato for baking or a few smaller ones to make mash, and this goes for all fruit and veg! It is fantastic to partner with Love Food Hate Waste on this campaign and shout about the impact of food waste (my great passion) on both the planet and our pockets.”
Ditching the plastic packaging
According to a new Love Food Hate Waste survey*, conducted with adults in the UK (16+) who buy fresh fruit and vegetables, 78% said they would be likely to buy their usual fruit and veg loose if they were sold that way, which was one of the highest given answers compared to other packaging formats – followed by paper bags or sacks (77%) and cardboard trays/boxes and cartons (75%) .
On the other hand, less than half said they would be likely to buy their usual fruit and veg in plastic packaging, such as plastic trays/boxes/cartons (46%), and plastic bags/sacks (47%). The only packaging format with a lower preference score was wooden crates (43%). When survey respondents were asked about the fresh fruit or vegetables they buy most often, on balance, loose came out on top – 56% preferred loose compared to 39% who preferred packaged.
Of the 56% who would prefer their fruit and veg loose, over two thirds (68%) say this would allow them to buy exactly the amount they need.
When asked their reasons for why they throw away food that they had not eaten 75% of UK adults (16+) who admitted to doing this, stated that the food was out of date/had gone off, indicating that people are wasting food and buying more than they have time to use
The demand for plastic-free produce is high. UK adults (16+) who buy fruit and vegetables would prefer to buy loose over packaged across nearly all (19) of the 21 fruit and veg items measured in the survey, with bananas coming in top – 70% of those asked would prefer their bananas loose.
For those people who prefer to buy fresh fruit and vegetables loose, WRAP believes the challenge is ensuring that they have the option to buy loose, and that option is visible and attractive to them. The survey suggests that this group is more likely to be composed of older people (73% of those aged 76 and over, and 68% of those aged 55-75 preferred loose compared to 38% of those aged 16-24), those living in smaller households (63% of single occupancy households and 64% of those in a two person household prefer loose, compared to 47% of those in a four or more in the household), and those households without children (61% preferred loose, compared to 47% of those with children in the household).
For those who say they prefer packaged – which the survey found was higher among younger people (for example, 59% of those aged 16-24 prefer packed compared to 27% of those aged 55-75 and 23% of those 76 or over) and those living in larger households (48% of those in a four or more person household prefer packed compared to 31% of those in a two person household and 33% of single occupancy households) – Food Waste Action Week wants to help this group recognise the money, food and plastic savings that buying loose brings. If all apples, bananas and potatoes were sold loose, 60,000 tonnes of food waste could be saved every year in the UK.
Policy change - WRAP wants to let loose
WRAP’s research has identified the potential to reduce household food waste by removing the packaging on uncut fresh fruit and veg, so that people can buy closer to their needs as well as eliminating a significant amount of unnecessary packaging.
WRAP has called for a consultation on a packaging ban on 21 fruit and veg items**, to be developed via a formal consultation process. This recommendation has been developed with the food and drink industry, across the supply chain. Selling these 21 items only loose could potentially save 100,000 tonnes of edible fruit and vegetables from being wasted annually in people's homes as well as saving 13,000 tonnes of plastic film.
The public has spoken, Food Waste Action Week responds.
Jackie Bailey, Senior Campaign Manager, Love Food Hate Waste, said: “In the UK, 60% of all food waste comes from people’s homes, with fresh fruit and veg making up the largest proportion. Buying loose fruit and veg has the potential to significantly cut the amount of food ending up in the bin and we have the evidence that it is what consumers want – now is the time for retailers and shoppers to make that a reality. Increasing loose fruit and veg offerings in store will not only reduce plastic waste, it will also enable shoppers to buy closer to their needs, slashing food waste and preventing tens of thousands of tonnes of CO2 emissions.”
Circular Economy Minister Mary Creagh said: “Farmers work tirelessly to put food on our nation’s tables - so it is absurd that households are throwing away £1,000 a year in food that could have been eaten. Food Waste Action Week is vital for raising awareness and encouraging people to only buy the fruit and veg they need, use what they buy, save money, and slash food waste. Through our £15 million food surplus fund, food producers, charities and government are working together to ensure more produce gets to those who need it most.”
Food waste facts
- 4.7 million tonnes of edible food is thrown away in UK households each year which is worth £17bn.
- Food waste accounts for 18 million tonnes of CO2 in the UK.
- 60,000 tonnes of food waste could be prevented if all apples, potatoes and bananas were sold loose, representing 8.2 million shopping baskets’ worth of food.
- 510,000 tonnes of potatoes are binned every year before we get round to using them, representing 46%*** of all potatoes bought in the UK.
Food waste costs on average £1,000 for a household of four every year.
*Technical methodological note: On behalf of WRAP, Ipsos interviewed a representative quota sample of UK adults aged 16+ (n= 2,281). The survey was carried out using the online i:omnibus from 3rd –5th February 2025.
Unweighted sub-sample bases are as follows:
Whoever throw away food 1,978
Who buy fresh fruit or vegetables 2,261
Who prefer to buy fresh fruit or vegetables without packaging 1,281
Who prefer to buy fresh fruit or vegetables with packaging 861
21 fruits and vegetables – apples, aubergines, avocados, bananas, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, garlic, ginger, lemons, limes, mangos, onions, oranges, parsnips, pears, peppers, potatoes, squash, swede, salad tomatoes
Data has been weighted to the known offline population proportions for age within gender as well as region, working status, education and social grade.
**Removing packaging from uncut fresh produce | WRAP the 19 items are apples, aubergines, avocados, bananas, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, garlic, ginger, lemons, limes, mangos, onions, oranges, parsnips, pears, peppers, squash, swede, salad tomatoes. The 2 items are potatoes and salad tomatoes.
***this is an unpublished statistic based on the weight of potato waste (calculated by WRAP) and data on potato purchases (from Defra’s Family Food dataset).
WRAP is a global environmental action NGO catalysing policy makers, businesses and individuals to transform the systems that create our food, textiles and manufactured products. Together these account for nearly 50% of global greenhouse emissions. Our goal is to enable the world to transition from the old take-make-dispose model of production to more sustainable approaches that will radically reduce waste and carbon emissions from everyday products. To do so we examine sustainability challenges through the lens of people’s day-to-day lives and create solutions that can transform entire systems to benefit the planet, nature and people.
Our work includes: UK Plastics Pact, UK Food and Drink Pact, Textiles 2030 and the campaigns Love Food Hate Waste and Recycle Now. We run Food Waste Action Week and Recycle Week.
Food Waste Action Week 2025: In its fifth year, the Week will spotlight the absurdity of the amount of fresh fruit and veg we waste in a bid to get more and more people across the UK talking about why buying loose fruit and vegetables is better.
Please contact: wrap.ngo