This article is researching the age old question that all super markets have, how they can reduce food waste. Researchers from New Jersey Institute of Technology and Stanford University were recruited to evaluate this. The biggest question was prepared foods. Large retailers have found that they are discarding about 9% of all prepared foods. Due to this, they looked to the universities in order to find what can make the food more appealing and how to sell more and reduce waste.

There are two different tactics for selling pre-made food, first in, first out and last in, first out. First in, first out prioritized the foods made first, trying to get them sold first so not as many foods will go bad and the fresher ones will always be next. Last in, first out prioritized the freshest goods at the front, giving consumers the benefit of getting the freshest options, but leaves older product in the back. With each there are benefits and drawbacks, with one not partially coming out as the best option for supermarkets.

The biggest and most definitive answer was the impact of time stamps. Time stamps show the consumers the age of the product and  can affect how much is bought, as many consumers care about freshness, even if one isn’t better than the other. Timestamps can increase costs and lead to more waste. While some stores may use the stamps to decide when to throw goods away, doing something on the backend would be more beneficial to reduce the food waste in super markets.

https://phys.org/news/2026-02-supermarkets-fresh-meals-front.html