Freezing Foods Attitude and Behaviour Study

RED undertook surveying on behalf of the WRAP organisation to examine what people kept in their home freezers and how they managed the contents. In particular, freezer use around Christmas was examined and the results used by WRAP to both inform strategy and for campaign messages.

The project involved several different routes of investigation:

• An in-home freezer audit,
• Face-to-face interviews,
• An omnibus survey,
• A brief literature review.

One of the aims of the WRAP organisation is to reduce the amount of food waste entering landfill. Clearly, use of the freezer is a key tool in achieving this goal. As such, the survey focused on determining what people had in their freezers and how they tended to use their freezers. Of particular interest was how freezer use changed during the Christmas period, when food waste increases.

These aims were achieved by undertaking a freezer-audit, where respondents were asked to record the contents of their freezers and by undertaking in-depth face-to-face interviews with respondents to ask them about how they used their freezers and what their attitudes were towards freezer us in general. This information was supplemented by a brief literature review and the undertaking of omnibus surveys.

The study established that that the average value of the contents of freezers in the UK is around 34 pounds, but that people's perception of value is somewhat different at 75 pounds. The study also confirmed that many people overstock their freezers and tend to throw away excess food.

As part of their aims to reduce food waste, WRAP are keen to encourage people to use their freezers in a smarter way. As such, the study also confirmed that few people use their freezers for storing leftovers, for pre-preparing food for future reheating and use or for shelf-life extension.

The final report is published on WRAP's website here.