Yorkshire residents saved almost £60 on every shop with '˜Best Before' bargains in 2017

People living in Yorkshire made over half a million in savings from products bought after their ‘Best Before’ date last year, with shopper saving an average of £59 per order, figures show.Data from online retailer Approved Food, which specialises in selling food and household products near or past their Best Before dates, showed customers in the four counties of Yorkshire made a total of £514,000 in savings. This figure represents the difference between prices paid by Approved Food customers for its products last year and the total of their recommended retail price.The savings made by Approved Food customers in its top 100 performing counties totalled more than £6,600,000.Looking at savings by location, figures show that the Southern counties dominated the top 10 areas with the highest savings. The top three spots were taken up by Essex (£375,000), London (£286,000) and Kent (£275,000) respectively. The only Yorkshire county to feature on the list was West Yorkshire at eighth with savings of £184,000.Dan Cluderay, founder of Approved Food says “It’s really great to see the kind of savings people are making by taking a sensible approach to food labelling. Our hope is that word will spread about initiatives such as ours so more people around the country can benefit from the huge savings to be made by using this approach to shopping while also reducing the levels of food waste in the UK.”The data has been released as Britain approaches ‘Blue Monday’, a day that claims to indicate the most depressing day of the year by taking into account a combination of issues including lack of money after Christmas, failed New Year’s resolutions, poor weather conditions and the blues that typically follow the end of a holiday season.Regardless of the date’s authenticity, it does highlight the fact that millions of Britons will be struggling financially in January following the Christmas period. The cost of gifts, travel and heating over this period has taken its toll on the pockets of many Britons. Figures from price comparison service uSwitch suggest one in four families will start 2018 owing an average of £452 on their credit cards. As many as half predict they will not have paid this debt off by next Christmas.The effects are expected to be felt especially acutely this year, with levels of ‘working poor’ (households below the poverty line despite at least one person being in work) having risen to 60% of all those classified as ‘in poverty’ in Britain, according to a study by Cardiff University.The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) says as many as 14 million people in this country are currently living in poverty, as rising food and energy bills continue to hit Britons hard.Dan also says “We are acutely aware of the financial difficulties that many people presently face in this country. We also know that Britons have always found clever and ingenious ways of making it through hard times. With one third of all food produced globally thrown out before it is eaten, we at Approved Food feel it is time to recognise the role that shops and supermarkets play in that wastage, and attempt to let people know that with a little understanding about what ‘Best Before’ actually means, there are millions of pounds of savings out there to be had.”The Best By/Best Before date refers to the date after which food may lose a degree of flavour or texture. It does not relate to safety, only quality.Savings made on such products totalled £6,618,640 in 2017 by Approved Food customers alone. The South saw savings of £3,978,005, with the North reaping £2,640,632. However, the two regions were closer when considering the average that customers saved per order, with the South recording £66, while the North pulled in £61 of savings per order.