So, where DO we get our products??
(or how do we all work together to reduce food waste?)
Americans waste TONS of food.
Roughly 50% of produce in the US is thrown away.
Shockingly, nearly 40% of ALL food in America is wasted.
Why are we throwing away SO much food?
The main reason is that the majority of Americans have basic misunderstandings about “sell by/best by” labels and what those labels are trying to tell them. Sadly this often encourages overcautious consumers to throw away perfectly good food.
Another reason is that large food manufacturers and distributers have, on a much larger scale, established a process that results in millions of dollars of wasted food for no good reason.
We are a local SW Florida grocery that is trying to change that!
What we do
Sunflower Market has (and continues to build) relationships with manufacturers and distributors all over the USA. Whenever they have something they can’t sell conventionally (for whatever reason) they come to us. Most national retail chains have very strict policies that don’t allow them to take product for a multitude of reasons, despite the fact that the product is perfectly good!
Some of the reasons might be as follows:
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Seasonal product past the season
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Discontinued at the retailer, but the distributer still has the product in stock
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Change in product or packaging (or both) and liquidating existing
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The product is too close to the sell by/best by date
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Sometimes we don't have ANY reason why we get it.
Click here to learn more about product dating from the USDA (US Dept of Agriculture
