Want to save money and help the planet? Then you should be shopping at the Best Before It’s Gone shops. There is one in Daventry in the High Street next to Argos and one in Northampton in St Peter’s Walk. They sell food at bargain prices because it is close to, or just passed, its best before date, but it is still perfectly fine. So what sort of food do they sell? Well tins, packets, jars, bottles, any that you would find on the shelves in supermarkets, items that the ‘best before’ date applies to basically. Shopping there is a great way to save money and help reduce food waste.

The food items that Best Before It’s Gone stock are items with a long shelf life, as opposed to chilled foods that have a ‘use by’ date, and a short life. What’s the difference?

You will see USE BY dates on fresh food like fish, meat products, prepared salads, ready meals, any foods that you would find in the chiller cabinets. The use by date is the most important date to follow as this relates to food safety for foods that have a short life. Storage information like keep refrigerated should also be followed carefully for the use by date to be valid.

BEST BEFORE dates appear on a wide range of foods, packaged shelf foods like tins, jars, dried, and others. Best before dates are about quality not safety, and are advisory, an indicator if you like. When the date is passed it doesn’t mean the foods are harmful. Most foods are perfectly fine long after this date. Food in tins, jars, bottles and sealed bags, etc, are preserved and air tight. Martin Lewis proved this on his Money Show recently (Spring 2018) sampling foods long passed their best before date. He confirmed shopping for foods passed this date is a great way to save money.

Every year in the UK we throw away 7.2m tonnes of food and drink most of which could have been eaten. The NHS website advises to think carefully before throwing away food past its “best before” date.

The Best Before It’s Gone shops are keen not only to save you money but also to help reduce food waste. Over supply and over ordering by large food retailers are often a cause of food waste. The Best Before It’s Gone shops would rather benefit its customers, saving them money, selling food very cheaply than see it thrown away, going to landfill. They back this up by offering a no quibble money back guarantee on any product that a customer is not completely happy with.

They are a socially responsible organisation. As well as employing a happy band of staff they regularly donate food to the Junk Food Project in Northampton and last Christmas gave advent calendars to the children’s wards at Northampton General Hospital.

Best Before It’s Gone sell lots of food items well within date too, and household items such as beauty products, cleaning products, stationery, you name it. You definitely need to start your shopping here for all your everyday items at exceptionally low prices. For example, Tyrell crisps, 150g bag, £1.99 in Tescos, only 50p in Best Before It’s Gone! Check out their facebook page for offers and have a look at their website – www.cheapfood.co.uk. You can order on line and have deliveries anywhere in the NN postcode for £2.45. Now that is a good deal.