Food waste has serious environmental and economic consequences. However, it is possible to reduce the amount of food that ends up in the trash, and at the same time save money and improve personal finances, by applying two simple methods used by industry to manage supply chains in our homes: FIFO and FEFO.
It has happened to everyone, probably more than once: you open the fridge to prepare a meal and one of the products you were planning to use is spoiled. Since it can no longer be consumed, it is thrown away.
Although consumers are not the only ones responsible for global food waste (according to the UN, each person wastes an average of 74 kilograms of food per year), households have a significant share of responsibility. In 2022, 1.17 million tons of food were thrown away across Spain. In addition, each household wasted an average of 65.5 kilos of food or drink.
According to data from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the British waste organization WRAP, around 6% of global food losses and waste occur in Latin America and the Caribbean. In Mexico, 94 kg per person per year are wasted, according to data from the report prepared in 2021.
In addition to the environmental consequences (between 8 and 10% of greenhouse gas emissions are related to this uneaten food) and the ethical problem of throwing away food in a world where more than 800 million people are hungry, this food waste has a considerable impact on the domestic economy.
One of the most common reasons for this waste — and also one of the easiest to solve — is a lack of organization. Paying attention to what we have in the fridge or pantry and knowing when it will no longer be good is essential to reducing food waste.
To achieve this, the FIFO and FEFO methods, whose effectiveness has been proven for decades in the field of logistics, offer a simple and practical formula for planning the consumption of the food we have at home.
FIFO method: Consume in the order in which they arrive at the pantry
“The FIFO system is ‘first in, first out’, meaning the first thing that comes in is the first thing that comes out,” explains Gemma del Caño, a pharmacist specializing in innovation, biotechnology, and food safety. This method is useful for products that do not have a label, i.e. fruit, vegetables, and other fresh products. “For everything that does not have a labelled expiry date, the most logical thing – and it is logical – is that the first thing you buy is the first thing you use, to prevent it from spoiling,” she says.
Furthermore, it is also important to bear in mind that some foods spoil more quickly than others. Del Caño, for example, stresses the importance of distinguishing between climacteric and non-climacteric fruits. The former are those that continue to ripen once they have been harvested (tomatoes, bananas, etc.) and can therefore be bought at different stages of ripening and consumed as they ripen. The latter, non-climacteric fruits (citrus fruits, strawberries, grapes), stop ripening as soon as they are harvested and “just go soft.” These, logically, should be consumed as soon as possible.
FEFO system: The expiration date marks the order of consumption
The FEFO method is similar but takes into account the expiration date. “FEFO is ‘first expired, first out’: the first thing that expires is the first thing that comes out,” explains Del Caño. This, which we normally take into account when shopping (we don’t buy something that is about to expire unless we are going to consume it immediately), should also be applied to the order in which we consume what we buy.
“This is what we have always done with milk: when you bought a new box you put it in the back and the two or three that you had left you put them in the front to use them up as quickly as possible,” he explains.
Both systems, in addition to being logical, seem very simple to implement, but they can be complicated if they are not combined with other actions such as always making a shopping list to buy only what we need. Before making this list, it is advisable to plan the weekly menus.
Gemma del Caño adds that it is also essential to “make rational purchases”, since “sometimes we trust too much that something is on sale or that it is cheaper because it comes in a large container and we don’t think about whether we are going to use it in the right amount of time”. She gives the example of buying two kilos of strawberries, which are very well-priced but go off very quickly.
How to apply the FIFO method with frozen foods
This food biotechnology expert also recommends “getting rid of the idea that ugly fruit or vegetables are not good” and trying to use ultra-frozen products.
When we are the ones who freeze, “we must also put the date on which we froze the food, so that the product does not go bad” and continue applying the FIFO method.
The Spanish Government’s Ministry of Consumption also offers two very simple recommendations to reduce food waste and increase savings: keep the refrigerator clean and at a maximum temperature of 4ºC and distribute food most efficiently.
Fruit and vegetables should be placed in the bottom drawer (the coldest and most humid area of the refrigerator); meat, fish, and products that are defrosting should be placed on the lower shelves; eggs, dairy products, sausages, and pre-cooked dishes should be placed on the middle shelves; and cooked or ready-to-eat products should be placed on the upper shelves.
