LONDON – Tesco announced that it is abandoning certain food promotions after determining that two-thirds of the produce grown for its bagged salads is wasted, The Guardian reports.

It is the first time that the supermarket chain has disclosed food waste figures, and the numbers are startling: 68% of salad to be sold in bags is thrown out, with 35% of that total occurring in the home. Additional waste includes 40% of apples, nearly half of all bakery items, a quarter of grapes, and one-fifth of bananas.

As a result, the company said it will end multi-buys on large bags of salads and is developing mix-and-match promotions for smaller bags, an effort to help customers reduce food waste. It is also removing “display until” dates from produce, using smaller cases in stores and rearranging hundreds of in-store bakeries to reduce the amount of bread on display, with an underlying goal of reducing waste.

According to the data that Tesco collected, in the first six months of this year, 28,500 tons of food waste were generated in Tesco’s stores and distribution centers.

"We've all got a responsibility to tackle food waste and there is no quick-fix single solution. Little changes can make a big difference, like storing fruit and vegetables in the right way,” said Matt Simister, Tesco commercial director of group food.

"Families are wasting an estimated £700 a year and we want to help them keep that money in their pockets, rather than throwing it in the bin. …[And] [w]e're working with our suppliers to try to cut waste at all stages of the journey from farm to fork."