A SCOTTISH entrepreneur is hoping to cut down on the mountains of food waste that end up in landfill by launching a website that sells goods that are nearly out of date.
Ray Conn has set up an online market place where retailers can advertise products that are soon to go out of date.
The site, launched yesterday, sells products which would otherwise be thrown away at a discounted price.
Mr Conn, 64, who is
also a songwriter from Callander, Perthshire, said that he was in discussions with supermarkets including Tesco, Morrisons, the Co-op and Marks & Spencer. He said they all thought it was a "fantastic idea".
He hopes the site will grow to become a global phenomenon.
"Everybody likes a good deal. It's embryonic at the moment but I have got a sixth sense in anything I have done in my life.
"I know that this can work but it needs people to notice it first. Once we have got 200 to 300 companies on there, it will just snowball. It's got the potential to be the biggest website in the world."
He said after talking to supermarket managers that he realised they were throwing away huge quantities of products that would soon go out of date.
The idea for the website came to him in his sleep, and he said he immediately wrote it down when he woke up.
"It was because (Richard] Branson and Al Gore were trumpeting about giving £15 million to anybody who could reduce one billion tonnes of carbon dioxide. Then I went to sleep, and it came to me in my subconscious."
He said he was motivated by helping the environment, and does not plan to make any money out of the website.
He aims for the website to operate all over the world, automatically finding the shop nearest a customer's home when they search for an item, to keep travelling or postage costs as low as possible.
The customer would buy directly from the supermarket and Mr Conn said customers could compare products from different chains to get the best bargain.
"Retailers will list their nearly out-of-date products for free, while customers will feel the benefit in their pocket or purse," he said. "And it all helps to lessen the damage to our environment and the impact of waste and pollution on nature's balance."
Another website, offering food that has passed its best before date, has taken off during the credit crunch.
Approved Food sells products that are not in optimum condition, but still safe to eat.
Dan Cluderay, founder of the Sheffield-based firm, said turnover had risen tenfold since the start of the economic downturn. The number of registered users had risen from 500 to 5,000, he said earlier this year.
Some 6.7 million tonnes of food are thrown away every year in the UK, most of which is still safe to eat. This year, it is estimated food worth up to £10 billion – equivalent to £420 for every household – will be binned.
A trend known as freeganism has emerged in recent years. It involves people going through the bins of supermarkets for food that is still safe to eat.
