According to latest research from international food and grocery expert IGD, nearly a quarter of British shoppers are seeking inspirational recipe ideas for leftover food in a bid to reduce food waste and save money.

Approximately, one third of the food we buy is thrown away, costing consumers £10 billion a year*. On top of the obvious environmental concerns, there is an increasing appreciation that wasted food means wasted money. In these challenging times, shoppers are seeking ways to make the most of every ingredient in their basket in the most cost effective way.

In IGD’s Shopper Trends 2009 – Food Shopping in a Recession report, shoppers were asked to identify areas they thought would help households reduce food waste. Recipe ideas for leftovers increased to almost a quarter (24%) compared to 14% in 2007. More than a third (35%) of these advocates were AB shoppers.

Other factors that shoppers felt would help reduce the amount of food thrown away included: smaller portion sizes (36%); resealable packaging, which increased eight percentage points since 2007 to 37%; and better food planning, which also increased from 43% to 49%.

Joanne Denney-Finch, Chief Executive, IGD, comments: “Wasting good food costs money and adversely impacts on the environment. One of the ways that people are reacting to the recession is making a greater effort to minimise food waste in the kitchen.

"There’s a growing interest in making good use of leftovers but many people lack experience and confidence in this area and need some help and advice on how to do this safely. Providing more of this presents a good opportunity for food companies to support consumers in challenging times."

Ends
 

Notes to Editors:

1. Breakdown of statistics used:
    
   

   Q. Thinking about food waste in the home, which of the following do you think would help households to reduce the amount of food they throw away?	2007	2009
   Recipe ideas to use leftovers	14%	24%
   Smaller portion sizes	27%	36%
   Re-sealable packaging	29%	37%
   Better food planning	43%	49%

2. *Figures from WRAP, 2008. For further information, visit WRAP here.
    
3. Available for interview: Gerardine Padbury, Senior Business Analyst, Shopper Trends 2009 – Food Shopping in a Recession, IGD
   
   Figures from IGD report Shopper Trends 2009 due to be published February 2009. Research based on interviews with 1051 shoppers in December 2008. The report tracks changing shopper attitudes and behaviour and also features:
   1. price and other drivers of store and product choice
   2. planning and meal preparation
   3. health and wellbeing
   4. ethics and the environment
       
4. IGD provides information, insight and best practice to the food and grocery industry worldwide and this year, celebrates its centenary year.
    

For more information contact:
Meeta Darji, Media Officer, IGD DD: +44 (0)1923 851990. M: +44 (0)7590 230455. E: meeta.darji@igd.com