ALDI Wasteful Food

Every few days Aldi(every Aldi store) throws out 1-2 big skips of fresh bread, fresh fruit, and fresh vegetables. If you're ever having difficulty paying for groceries, if you walk past their store on a sunday night at 8pm(they close at 7) you can just grab that fresh food for free!!!

Better yet, it almost feels like they are criminals for throwing so much food away. It feels like you're saving food from going to waste.

some background: I've been dumpster diving fairly regularly for 4 years now.
For 2 years I decided to say screw it and just stopped buying groceries altogether and just lived off dumpster diving, and let me tell you the getting was good!!! I was getting easily $200-300 of groceries for free every week! not even every fortnight. I even took up composting because I couldnt eat all the fresh fruit and veg I was getting.

Moderator Warning: In Australia, dumpster diving can be illegal. Different councils and areas have different rules and restrictions. Generally, being on private property without permission is illegal, and the legal ownership of discarded property depends on local council laws.

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Comments

  • +17

    It is a reality that nobody wants to buy old bread, fruit and vegetables.

    • +110

      It is a reality that nobody wants to buy old bread, fruit and vegetables for full price, and businesses would rather throw it away than give it a reasonable discount to actually clear it.

      • +10

        Then have people complain it's not 100%.

        • +21

          That's what happens when a society values litigation over personal responsibility.

          • +1

            @Scrooge McDuck: Sadly, you are all right

          • -1

            @Scrooge McDuck: Complete and utter rubbish. The other supermarkets are perfectly capable of marking down food at the end of the day to get rid of it, or donate it to charity or as pig food, without being sued.

            In fact, it's people like you who spread falsehoods (I won't call them lies because I don't believe you want to deliberately mislead anyone) about living in a society of litigators that results in harm. People aren't (generally) stopped from doing things like this by litigation, they're stopped by people like you making them think they'll be sued.

            • @callum9999: Aldi are more than capable of doing marking food down too: After all, they mark down all the cardboard furniture and basement consumer electronics they sell every time it sits on the aisle when they try to flog it at an overblown price point.

              So they can certainly do it with food, as well.

              And yes, they can donate it if they make the effort to work with the charities. Or even better deliver it to the charity warehouses themselves as a cost to their business- instead of creating more effort for the poor charities and volunteers.

              But they don't and that is not down to the risk. It is down to cost.

              The Aldi bros didn't both make it to the top 10 global rich-list by spending money they didn't have to: The food gets dumped to maximise profit for sharehodlers at the expense of society and its starving millions.

              • -1

                @resisting the urge: Yes, that was my entire point - there isn't a risk.

                People just love pretending there is so they can add another point to their "things to rant about" list. People sure do love moaning about the "nanny state" or "PC culture" in this country - it gets tiresome!

              • @resisting the urge: Are there Aldi shareholders?
                Serious question.

                • @Bargaina: Not really sure. IIRC it is owned by the family, but maybe they have equity partners that have holdings. I imagine that would make quite a few people shareholders in addition to the brothers, but maybe not owners of shares in the traded sense. Who knows- maybe it's a trust with beneficiaries or something.

      • +7

        I always reduces any items on my store to a dollar but its always pisses off HO! they always prefer to chuck 'em in the bin. they call it food safety!

        • +3

          Good on you for doing your best. I bought some near expired pita bread real cheap recently, perfect with soup!

        • +2

          This is because there is precedence. In America, quite a few stores have been sued after people ate giveaways/leftovers that went bad.
          Some fast food restaurants even go so far as to FORBID their staff from giving away leftovers, as the risk of food poisoning would make the company liable for damages. If they dump them in the bin, however, and place the bin on public property, then they are shown to not have willingly distributed spoiled food.

          • @jatyap: dumb people first take such food willingly with fill awareness then sue!

            • +1

              @Okayy: I'd use the word "malicious" or "opportunistic" instead of dumb. A lot of them are fully aware of what they are about to do.

          • +1

            @jatyap: i am not sure how true that is, law suits arent as frivolous as we believe in the united states, there was a huge campaign of mis information after that lady got burnt with coffee at a mc donalds to discredit her ( i've since forgotten the ins and outs). It just works out better to bin it and we all buy full price

          • @jatyap: If anyone is using US lawsuits as precedent for what they want to do in Australia, they have a severe misunderstanding of how the law works.

            Not that I can find any evidence that there have been a significant number of lawsuits over this, much less any that were successful. Does anyone have any? (Even though I expect it will be a completely insignificant number, there must be at least one!)

            • @callum9999: They may not be using it as precedent, but legal teams will probably insulate companies from this sort of risk. I wouldn't blame them if they did.

              Some cafe in either Melbourne or Sydney stopped allowing customers to bring keep cups as there was a risk of bacterial contamination.

              As to selling expiring stuff at a discount, Coles and Woolies do it fairly often. Aldi does it much less, but at times, stuff will still go on sale.

        • I always reduces any items on my store to a dollar

          What store mate? =p

          • @montorola: 😆 one in Kensington and one in Alexandria cant be more specific 😉

      • +4

        Buy reducing it consumers expect to always buy day old bread, meaning no one buys full price bread.
        They make more money buy throwing it out than reducing it.

      • I've been buying discounted bread, fruit and vegetables since my supermarket and grocer started offering it. Harris Farms make a lot of money from selling odd fruit and vegetables, everyone buys it.

      • +1

        Discounting doesn't make money. You might break even. But you lose a full price sale. So supermarkets write off all stuff they throw out, it's called shrinkage. Ethical places would donate to a food based charity but this is Aldi we are talking about here so it ends up in the bin. Really, they should get in the bin also.

        • +2

          Nonsense. Visit any Woolworths or Coles store in the evening and you'll see loads of markdowns (especially now demand is all over the place and it's trickier to produce the right amount). The loss of a full priced sale is somewhat mitigated by additional sales - most of the markdowns I personally buy I wouldn't have purchased at all at full price, and I invariably buy something else while I'm there.

          In fact, the stores I've worked in (only the UK and New Zealand so not necessarily identical) actually employed someone specifically to mark down products…

          • @callum9999: And people buying those marked down products will also be buying other full priced stuff. My local Coles usually has a trolley with a load of discount stuff on it in the late afternoon. If I'm in the store, I'll have a look at what's on the trolley and grab whatever I need but I'm not there just for that and will get other shopping too.

      • ItsMeAgro on 28/04/2020 - 15:29
        It is a reality that nobody wants to buy old bread, fruit and vegetables for full price, and businesses would rather throw it away than give it a reasonable discount to actually clear it.

        Source?

        This pic, as well as all the other reduced for quick sale items that have ever been posted on ozb, say you're wrong.

    • Yes, I always buy the item with the longest date, possibly even if I know I'm going to use it soon. I guess as a consumer I want the freshest if I'm paying full price.

      I find Colesworth a better at marking down stock that's closer to expiry and I buy stuff that's marked down and close to expiry if I know I'll use it. As per OPs post, I do see my local Aldi clearing perfectly good stock just to throw out rather than marking it down. I suspect Coles and Woolies are also better at donating food when they have and excess before it goes off, e.g. my local Salvos Store has free bread and fruit from Woolworths sometimes for people to take if needed.

  • +9

    Weird humblebrag?

    Why did you stop?

    • +13

      I moved away from aldi's I have an issue spending more than 1.5 hours cycling each night for food. 1.5 is about my limit, otherwise I just feel a bit scared being out so late on my bike tbh

      • +2

        But didn’t you say you got 200-300 worth of food a week, so you would only need to do this once a week (or even fortnight), not every night.

        • So, a small part of diving wasnt about food, I'd occasionally visit the kmart bins, and the reject shop bins, and others just as an adventure, I feel like this is slightly less ethical as instead of taking things I needed I was doing it as a leisure activity and a motivation for exercise, but the main point of it was food each week, I don;t know if I've explained that well enough. I'm sure if you really got into diving you'd understand.

  • +1

    Did you take photos of the amount they're throwing out?

    • I have, many times.

      • +23

        Are you able to post them up?

        • +1

          I post them on the brisbane dumpster dive facebook page, but after a while of doing the same week in week out I got a bit fed up, it honestly gets depressing seeing so much wasted food.

          • +20

            @sarahlump: If you are depressed, maybe visit Chemist Warehouse dumpster.

            • +1

              @Baysew: badabing!

            • @Baysew: @baysew im gonna throw it out there, the chemist warehouse dumpster is dangerous. They give vaccinations and dispose of the vaccination vials in the dumpster, as well as other various biowaste. Specifically chemist warehouse is a health hazard and I'd recommend not going there. I know they sell various products, but its not worth it.

      • Nino wants to know your location.

    • +6

      Why do you need photos? isn't it common knowledge that all supermarkets throw out large amount of foods everyday?

      • +7

        So I can see it?

      • Many donate it to charities

  • +1

    I thought escorts were well paid?

    • +4

      Idk about you but I thought most rich people were rich because they spend well and don't waste money?? isn't that the mantra around here?

      • +37

        I don't know any rich people who eat from dumpsters.

        • +3

          Maybe they should haha

        • -2

          How would they know they don’t cook their own food, they probably DO eat dumpster food

        • i don't know any normal average joe that would ever eat from dumpsters.

      • +1

        Sure. But being thrifty doesn't = stealing. Dumpster diving is a punishable offence of up to $550 fine or 6 months imprisonment.

        • +1

          As long as they aren't spreading rubbish everywhere, and accept the consequences of cross contamination, the concept of being punished for saving wasted food is redonk.

          • -1

            @ProlapsedHeinous: Just because you don't agree with it doesn't make it any less likely that someone could get fined or imprisoned for dumpster diving.

            P.s: How would you feel if someone was going through your bins on bin night?

            • +3

              @[Deactivated]: Just because there is a law against something, doesn't make it immoral.

              • +4

                @ProlapsedHeinous: How about distributing food that OP has found in dumpsters to unsuspecting people? Would you say that's moral?

                There are several food rescue organisations which collect excess food from businesses and redistribute it to charities that support Australians who are doing it tough. For e.g Foodbank, Secondbite, Ozharvest, REAP, Fareshare, Food rescue…etc All OP had to do was either contact one of them or speak to a manager at Aldi. It is as easy as that in most cases. There was no need for OP to be stealing food from dumpsters in the middle of the night and stuffing it in an unrefrigerated van to 'distribute'.

                • @[Deactivated]: Yeah thats disgusting, i'll give you that for sure.

                • +4

                  @[Deactivated]: you think i'd give people reclaimed food without letting them know where I get it from? I post on dumpster diving forums to find people to offload it to. you keep coming up with hypothetical situations that aren't in line with reality, please keep your cynicism to yourself.

                  • @sarahlump:

                    please keep your cynicism to yourself.

                    The nerve of someone committing an illegal act telling me to keep my cynicism to myself…

                    Dumpster-diving is illegal in Australia. It falls under "Goods in personal custody suspected being stolen" in NSW which is a punishable offence of up to $550 or 6 months imprisonment.

                    Elsie Parker, a dumpster diver from Northern NSW, was fined $350 in 2012 for taking material from a Big W bin that she intended to use as art supplies.

                    The official offence stated on Elsie's fine reads: "Goods in personal custody suspected being stolen." The terminology is disturbingly vague and the premise slipshod; her punishment is based on suspicion rather than established guilt. But it sets a precedent for Australian dumpster divers: though there is no specific law that prohibits it, a person may be fined for dumpster diving.

                    You're also putting people's lives at risk by breaking the cold chain and increasing the risk of food poisoning. All for what? So you can brag about it?

                  • +5

                    @sarahlump: Ignore that guy, seems he's in love with the Rule of Law and whatever is "Normal" over practicality.

                    Thanks for the post! Dumpster diving is great.

                    • @[Deactivated]:

                      Ignore that guy, seems he's in love with the Rule of Law and whatever is "Normal" over practicality.

                      You don't get it, do you? I'm not the bad guy here - I'm not responsible for making the legislation. Op is for her lies and half-truths. Would you rather that some unsuspecting, down-on-his-luck ozbargainer believed this outright lie from the OP:

                      in NSW the state chief of police officially stated that they would not prosecute dumpster diving.

                      got caught and fined up to $550? Would you , OP and the others who are negging me have offered to pay the fine on his behalf?

                      • @[Deactivated]: How many examples of people being fined for dumpster diving do you know of? I have done it loads, never been caught let alone fined. The police have more important things to be doing.

                        • @[Deactivated]:

                          How many examples of people being fined for dumpster diving do you know of?

                          2

                          • @[Deactivated]: Incredible, better never consider doing it because TWO people have been fined.

                            If you dived weekly for a year and got fined once you'd break even twice over in terms of fresh produce saved.

                            • +1

                              @[Deactivated]: I've never said NOT to go dumpster diving; I've only pointed out that there maybe consequences if you choose to do it. Everyone can then make their own informed decision on whether they are willing to risk it or not.

                              I believe this is more ethical than lying to people by telling them that there is no consequence like OP has done. This is why I've asked mods to remove this statement from the OP:

                              in NSW the state chief of police officially stated that they would not prosecute dumpster diving

                              That is completely untrue. At least 2 people have been fined for dumpster diving in NSW in recent years.

                              • @[Deactivated]: Mate there is a moderator post in the OP. Relax.

                                I think it's pretty clear to any sane person that you should take advice on whether something is legal or not from OzBargain. You only needed to make your point once. Everything since is just unnecessary.

                                • @[Deactivated]:

                                  Mate there is a moderator post in the OP. Relax.

                                  Check the revisions. Op's edit was only removed AFTER I reported it.

                                  You only needed to make your point once

                                  Don't worry, I've learned my lesson. I've had to turn off my PM due to all the trolls harassing me. From now on, instead of warning others of the potential consequences of their actions, I'll just sit back and grab some popcorn.

                                  • @[Deactivated]: That's the spirit. No harm posting a warning. Plenty of harm going on and on about it as if you're the OzBargain dad. People can make their on mistakes, JJ.

            • @[Deactivated]: If someone was going through my bin, I would probably just think that maybe he could use something I chucked out and good luck to him. Other than that, maybe I was chucking useful things away that I should be trying to rehome.

              On the agreeing with it part, if enough people agree then the cops or security who pick you up will probably just tell you not to do it again, especially if you look homeless

          • +2

            @ProlapsedHeinous: Exactly while this is currently a criminal offense it seems like this law needs to be changed (laws like this are not permanently set in stone).

            As long as people do not make a mess, do it for personal consumption and do not distribute it to unsuspecting people (although I do not see the part where the OP ever suggested that they were doing that) I see no major problem with this.

            Although there are food rescue organisations it is obvious that way too much food still gets thrown out at supermarkets

              • +1

                @[Deactivated]: From the responses after that initial comment it is implied that the people who would accept the food were made aware of the fact that it was taken from supermarket disposal, so therefore not unsuspecting.

                As long as people accepting the food are aware of its origins and accept risks associated with that, and the person distributing said food is not making any money from this I still think that the laws should be changed.

                If the people who accept such food are indeed unsuspecting then the people distributing this should face heavy penalties (as well as if they are making any money from this).

                • +7

                  @AussieDeals: From the first sentence of the op,

                  (every Aldi store) throws out 1-2 big skips of fresh bread, fresh fruit, and fresh vegetables.

                  That's a lie. From Aldi's sustainability statement:

                  "An important part of protecting the environment is minimising waste. Since 2017, 100% of our stores have been linked to one or more local food rescue partners. We’re proud to say that in 2017 alone we donated over 3500 tons of quality surplus food. (…)
                  We are honoured to work with our amazing partners at Foodbank, OzHarvest, and SecondBite nationally, and with countless charities and community groups locally, to help us get any quality surplus food from our stores and distribution centres to the people who need it most. These incredible volunteers from our rescue partners collect food daily to ensure as little as possible goes to waste."

                  She claims she has photos of her a couple of van full of food, yet won't post them.

                  Op also claimed that :

                  in NSW the state chief of police officially stated that they would not prosecute dumpster diving.

                  Again, a lie. People have been prosecuted for dumpster diving.

                  If you read the comments in this post, you'll find many inconsistencies in what Op is saying. I can't be bothered linking to them while on my phone.

                  She has also admitted to being a troll : stirring the pot to get reactions from us to post on Twitter.I'm surprised by how many people are falling for it. She is now in the penalty box.

                  Personally, I would take everything that Op says with a grain of salt, including the origin of the food she claims to be distributing in her van.

      • +2

        Almost nobody "saves themselves to wealth". You can certainly save your way to a comfortable living by reducing your expenses, but not to "wealth".

        Do the maths: Assume your total remunerations is $100k/yr (higher than average).
        Your take home pay is $69,250
        Assume you save half of that (which is a lot) - then you're saving $35k/y.
        Without growth, you'd maybe be able to save $1M over your working life.

        Assume you put it all into a decent yield investment returning 7%.
        Assume that your income grows with inflation, and that inflation is 2.5%
        This means that your net growth is 4.5%pa.
        Plugging that into Excel, in 30 years you'll have earned just over $2M.

        Now, $2M (in today's dollars as I factored in inflation) is nothing to sneeze at, and you'd be happy if you had that to retire with, but, that's still only one pretty nice house in a capital city - and that's assuming that you're able to save at that rate for thirty years. If you bought a $1M house after 20 years, then you'd wind up with $650k at retirement age. If, after retirement, you still lived on $35k/yr then that $650k will maintain you through to your death with a small nestegg to spare.

        Of course, if you spend $40k and save $30k then your savings won't actually last you through retirement.

        • +2

          Something about an 80k car with a bonut

        • If you have that much money then you're wealthy compared to the guy who spent it all and have to seriously cut down living pay cheque to pay check from what little there is from tax payers in the form of a pension cheque.

          It is harder to shrink from living on $70k (all spent zero saved) to like whatever the pension is ($40k maybe?) than if living on $40k a year and then having a little bit of tax payer subsidy and also able to spend the $2m over 20 years of retirement.

    • +1

      If I became an escort, I definitely wouldn't make any money :(

      • +1

        I'm an escort. Haven't made a cent yet.

  • Why did someone report this obvious troll lol

    • +7

      Why.

      Dumpster diving can be a profitable enterprise, which is what this website is all about. Unfortunately for me, all the supermarkets near me keep their dumpsters under lock and guard, so it's a no go around here.

      • +8

        You obviously haven't seen ops other posts, and reddit history that's been posted here.

        • +8

          brendanm, this sounds like gossip and name calling.

          • +7

            @sarahlump: You posted it, I also didn't call any names, unless you'd like to show where I did?

      • If you're ever around mt gravatt, sunnybank, or sunnybank hills I recommend hitting up Aldi and some coles.

        • -6

          Yuck.

        • There’s no aldi at sunnybank and the bins are locked away at Coles,

          • @dylanando: they must hve closed in the last few years, they were great when I used to go there

      • -1

        Dumpster diving can be a profitable enterprise

        So is stealing but they are both illegal.

        • In at least 1 state the official avenue for things being illegal has stated clearly and officially that it isn't illegal, and many other states will not prosecute somebody for dumpster diving. there's a significant difference between illegal and prosecutable.

          • @sarahlump:

            In at least 1 state the official avenue for things being illegal has stated clearly and officially that it isn't illegal

            You keep saying that and yet, you won't tell us your source. FYI, people have been fined in NSW.

        • Indeed. Best approach with an exit strategy

        • -1

          Pretty sure you mentioned this already mate. Starting to get a little repetitive.

          And annoying.

  • +4

    This is nothing new. Nearly two decades ago my friends and I were having free mud cake fights behind the Woolies in Rundle mall.

    • +1

      Liberated a few rotten eggs from the dumpsters back in my younger years. good times.

    • +5

      If you've ever shopped at aldi they have a horrible policy of individually wrapping all products in individual plastic wrappings. if you're worried about getting some dirt on your hands dont dumpster dive, and don't garden.

      • -8

        I don't put food that has been in a bin, in my mouth.

        • +33

          Your lucky to live in a situation which makes that unnecessary. But for a twist of fate & geo-location you could be facing eating discarded food or starvation. You are privileged not to have to make that choice & should keep that in mind before disparaging the less fortunate…

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