The average household throws away 34 kg of food per person every year. That's easily €400–€600 wasted annually — money straight into the bin. And beyond the cost, it's a real environmental problem. The good news: a few simple habits can dramatically cut your food waste.
Know the difference between "best before" and "use by"
Best before means the product is at its best quality before that date — but it's often still perfectly fine to eat afterwards. Think pasta, rice, canned goods, biscuits, and preserves. Use your senses: smell it, look at it, taste it.
Use by is more serious. This appears on products that can spoil quickly — raw meat, fresh fish, certain dairy. After this date the product may be unsafe. This is when you actually should throw it out.
Use the FIFO method
FIFO stands for First In, First Out. When you unpack groceries, put new products at the back and older ones at the front. Supermarkets do this too. Simple — and incredibly effective at preventing forgotten items from expiring.
Store food in the right place
Not everything belongs in the fridge:
🍅 Tomatoes — room temperature. The fridge kills their flavour.
🍞 Bread — in a bread bin, or slice and freeze it.
🥔 Potatoes — cool, dark, and dry. Not in the fridge.
🍌 Bananas — away from other fruit, or they'll all ripen faster.
Plan your meals for the week
A weekly meal plan helps you shop with purpose. You buy only what you actually need, which means fewer impulse buys rotting in the back of the fridge. Write your shopping list based on your plan — and stick to it.
Keep track of what you have
Do you know exactly what's in your fridge and when it expires? Most people don't — and that's exactly why things silently expire and end up in the bin. Tracking your inventory is the single most effective way to stop waste before it happens.
FreshGarant does this automatically
Scan a product's barcode, enter the expiry date, and FreshGarant sends you a notification before it expires. No more forgotten items going bad in the back of the fridge.
Download freeUse your freezer properly
Almost anything can be frozen: bread, meat, soup, vegetables, even milk and cheese. Always label what you freeze with a date (use a marker or sticker) so you know how long it's been in there. Most frozen food keeps well for 1–3 months.
Get creative with leftovers
Yesterday's leftovers are tomorrow's ingredients. Cooked potatoes become soup. Leftover rice becomes fried rice. Old vegetables go into a stir-fry. When you're not sure what to make, search online for recipes using the ingredients you already have.
Small changes, big impact
Reducing food waste doesn't have to be complicated. It starts with awareness: know what you have, when it expires, and plan around that. With the habits above, you can easily save €20–€50 a month — and make a real environmental difference at the same time.
Want to make it even easier? FreshGarant automatically tracks when your products expire. Scan barcodes, get smart notifications, and stop throwing food away.