Impact of ‘Best-Before’ Date Label Removal on Purchase: Evidence from a Quasi-Experiment in UK

We examine the impact of removing 'best-before' date labels from packaged fruits and vegetables on consumer purchase behavior. Using a difference-in-differences approach and consumer panel data, they study an initiative by a major UK supermarket, Tesco, to remove these labels in 2018. The authors find three key results: 1) Removing 'best-before' labels had no effect on purchase quantities across produce categories; 2) For some categories, it increased interpurchase times, suggesting consumers wasted less produce; 3) For some categories, it increased patronage for the focal supermarket as consumers purchased more fruits and vegetables overall. These findings contribute to research on sustainable retailing, specifically date labeling and food waste, and offer insights to managers on the effects of removing 'best-before' labels.