Company selling food past its best-before date thrives in economic crisis

A company that specialises in selling food past its best-before date has suddenly found that its time has come.

Approved Food, an online retailer from Worksop, has been quietly selling biscuits and tins of soup past their prime for eight years.

But since last September's banking crisis, turnover has shot up 10-fold, according to the company's founder, Dan Cluderay, who offers 750g jars of Nutella hazelnut chocolate spread, best before January 4, for £1, well below the £2.55 charged by Tesco, and 400g jars of Marmite Big Squeeze, best before February, for £2. A jar half that size costs £2.47 in Tesco.



Mr Cluderay, who worked on market stalls to put himself through college, said demand had been so great that he has been forced to shut down his website for a few days every month to clear the backlog of orders.

"We have seen a significant rise in interest, probably due to the credit crunch and our low prices," he said.

Food past its sell-by date may not be in tip-top condition, but is safe to to eat, according to the Food Standards Agency. "Best- before is an indication of quality rather than safety. Eating food past the best-before date does not necessarily put someone at risk from food poisoning," it said.