Long Shelf Life Cuts Food Waste

As supermarkets and consumers shun the need for Sell-By dates on food, leading ready meal supplier to the senior market Parsley Box yet again highlights the benefits of its ambient meal range.

With the cost of living crisis urging households to keep a check on wasted food and unnecessary energy bills, cupboard-stored food is proving to be a sensible choice when it comes to cost-effective and efficient meal planning.

Parsley Box meals can be stored for up to six months without any need for refrigeration or freezing – so plenty of time before worrying about whether or not they are good to eat.

The option to buy single portions of main meals, puddings and sides also means there is no need to buy more ingredients than are needed – and which may ultimately need to be thrown away.

With the typical pensioner household food bill averaging £1,563 – and rising according to recent figures – with spending on housing and fuel costing a further £1,485, it is essential for many people to look at the food and energy they might be wasting.

Oven versus microwave

The method chosen to cook food is often overlooked when it comes to the impact on utility bills.

Cooking with a microwave is much more energy efficient than cooking using an electric oven, according to data from the Energy Saving Trust.

The average microwave uses less than half as much energy as the typical oven – and used once a day costs on average £13 of electricity a year, compared to £30 for an electric oven.

All Parsley Box ambient meals are cooked in a microwave in less than 2 minutes, saving even more money as they don’t have to be heated from the fridge or frozen.  Also many customer favourites have been price locked at £2.95 to help ease the burden of the cost of living crisis even further.

Meal Planning

Meal planning also means eradicating the stress of last-minute cooking  – just choose from the wide ranging menu and there can be something different for lunch and dinner every day of the week. Add vegetables and sides to suit, choosing what you want to eat as and when you want to.

This approach also minimises food waste –the campaign group WRAP says we throw away 9.5 tonnes of food each year. 

‘Reducing the need for Sell By dates is one step towards reducing excessive waste. The six month shelf life of our products helps towards the campaign to help our customers. We are doing everything in our power to keep the costs of good food at the lowest prices possible. Not only that the method of heating and storing our meals will have an impact on other costs.’