Seven-Eleven, Lawson to discount foods close to expiry to cut waste

Seven-Eleven Japan Co. and Lawson Inc. said Friday they will start discounting rice balls and lunch boxes that are close to their expiry dates in order to reduce food waste, a growing issue in the country where 6 million tons of still edible foods are discarded annually.The Japanese convenience store operators will offer customers enrolled in the chains' point programs shopping credits worth 5 percent of the value of purchases as incentive for buying such products. They have been selling products at list prices and had all but banned franchise store owners from offering discounts.The Japan …READ FULL ARTICLE