Here are the best-selling red-labeled products in stores

Meat and meat products do their business at a reduced price. Tiina Somerpuro

Stores account for approximately 16 percent of food waste in the food chain. Stores actively try to reduce the amount of losses.

The K group says that the loss has decreased by 16 percent this year compared to the same period last year. Waste can be prevented with, for example, accurate planning of assortments and orders and efficient logistics. This year, more and more K-grocery stores have also introduced low-cost meat waste boxes and bread waste bags.

Also in the S group, waste boxes have been introduced more widely this year, and they are now sold in all S-markets.

– Fruits and vegetables that are, for example, slightly bruised but still usable are collected in boxes or bags in the store, which the customer can buy at an affordable price per kilo or per piece, says the sustainability expert of the S-group’s convenience store Iida Lehtimäki.

The possibility of saving interests me

The most familiar way for consumers to participate in reducing waste is to buy red-labelled products.

– The importance of price in purchasing decisions has already increased in the last half of the year, and it continues to be emphasized. Many customers consider the rise in the cost of living more carefully than before about what to buy in the store, and offers are generally more popular than ever, which probably also explains the popularity of red-labelled products, says Kesko’s director of responsibility for grocery retail Timo Jäske.

Bread, prepared food, meat and meat products, as well as yogurts, puddings and milk products are the most sold in K-stores among the red-labeled products in terms of units.

In the S group, proteins and bakery products do their business in particular.

– In our stores, the most vulnerable to loss are packaged fish and meat products, such as salmon fillet, minced meat and Karelian roast meat, as well as bakery products, such as rice pies, croissants, meat pies and rye pieces, says Iida Lehtimäki.

According to Lehtimäki, cheaper options and red-labeled products are selected for the shopping cart more often than before. In 2022, 90 million discount products were sold.

– This year we have already sold more than one million red label products more than last year at the same time, and our total loss relative to sales is also decreasing.

Also in the S group, the most important work to reduce wastage is done by predicting the sales of products based on data and planning a suitable selection for each store.