Sit down, folks, I agree with Philippa here.Jenny, there is a very strict protocol for cold chain distribution. Should that chain break, goods are often deemed unusable. Period. Like it or not. This would be particularly true for a large corporate entity where liability is an enormous concern. If anything goes south with regard to an unbroken chain, people would target a large corporate purse before they would do the same for a smaller one. I think this is where efforts to eradicate "use by" and best by" are justified. Common sense seems to have gone out the window. Those practices generate enormous amounts of waste where none need exist. But that's food safety regulation at present. And while it shouldn't vary, it does depending upon who the inspector is that day or in that borough.I've no clue what M&S and others do. But apart from seeing evidence of a food charity pulling up to collect, I see no reason why something similar wouldn't be happening when things go back to a distribution center. As Philippa says, the bins appear to be used not for rubbish but for transport. I thought the same because everything is so neat and organized. Just because they're bins doesn't mean they haven't been cleaned appropriately for the purpose of transport. There could also be a second tier market for, let's call them used, produce hence a potential revenue stream as opposed to a loss. To me a catastrophic failure would have looked like a mish mash of ugly one bin to the next. That's not this.Farmers will grow and outlets will order based upon projections. Perhaps this is evidence not as much was bought this year as last and, again per Philippa, if it is a new site it is highly likely they overordered expecting a higher footfall for the season. Personally I think they missed their window by opening so late into December.
David Lesniak ● 5d