Key facts
- Waitrose has been named the UK supermarket with the shortest average shelf life for fresh food, at 7.7 days, according to a Which? investigation.
- Asda was found to have the longest average shelf life for fresh produce, with some items lasting over 30 days.
- The study involved 12 mystery shoppers ordering 29 fresh and perishable items from Asda, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury's, Tesco, and Waitrose.
- Items like beef mince and chicken thighs at Waitrose had use-by dates the day after delivery.
- Tesco's fresh pasta sauce and pork sausages arrived with only 3.4 days of shelf life remaining.
- Sainsbury's had instances of items with best-before dates on the day of delivery.
A recent investigation by consumer watchdog Which? has revealed that Waitrose offers the shortest shelf life for fresh and perishable food items among major UK supermarkets. The study, which involved 12 mystery shoppers placing identical orders for 29 fresh groceries from Asda, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury's, Tesco, and Waitrose, found that Waitrose products had an average remaining shelf life of just 7.7 days from delivery.
Waitrose performed poorly across several product categories, including scones, bread, fresh pasta sauce, fresh tagliatelle, houmous, and pork sausages. In some instances, items like beef mince and chicken thighs arrived with a use-by date only one day after delivery. The supermarket stated that it is committed to offering the freshest products and has removed preservatives from some items, like houmous, in response to customer demand for simpler ingredients.
Tesco followed with an average shelf life of 8.8 days, and some customers received fresh pasta sauce and pork sausages with only 3.4 days remaining, despite Tesco's own guidelines suggesting longer expiry periods. A Tesco spokesperson noted that the retailer works to select the freshest items and highlights any with shorter shelf lives as part of its 'Freshness Guarantee,' offering refunds if customers are unhappy.
Sainsbury's averaged 10.2 days of shelf life, with some instances of items like sweetcorn and basil having best-before dates on the day of delivery. Ocado also had mixed results, with some products lasting over 20 days, but one customer received black and wilted basil.
Morrisons had a solid performance overall, although one substituted raspberry trifle had less than four hours before its expiry. Asda emerged as the top performer, with beef mince lasting at least 18 days and a pasta sauce averaging 33.6 days, significantly longer than Waitrose's offering for a similar product that also cost more.
Which? noted that receiving perishable items with very short shelf lives is a significant frustration for online grocery shoppers.