As a nation, we love our food; an endless succession of best-selling books, popular magazines and prime-time TV programmes testify to the fact.

Estimates by WRAP, the Government’s waste advisory body, tell us that around 7 million tonnes of food from UK households is thrown out. The waste from our fridges and cupboards represents some £8 billion in value – that’s the equivalent of 24 meals per month – and represents a huge environmental impact and massive landfill costs. Alarmingly, it’s calculated that 60% of this waste could be consumed.

In contrast, rising numbers of individuals, groups and families on low incomes are unable to afford ‘healthy’ foods. The Trussell Trust reports a growing use of foodbanks by struggling and vulnerable people. Whatever the causes – shrinking public services, benefit reforms, and changing demographics resulting in lower levels of nutritional awareness and kitchen skills – the dichotomy between waste and want is unacceptable.

Food prices have been rising inexorably for a number of years. The current (Jan 2015) reductions in fuel costs may afford some respite, but no-one seriously questions the overall upward trend.

The lovefoodhatewaste.com website emphasises the importance of making the most of the food we buy, and the advent of re-sealable packaging has helped in this respect.

Reseal-it®, the innovative and patented re-sealing system from Macfarlane Labels, allows the pack to be opened and closed up to 25 times, keeping the contents fresher, for longer.

The packaging concept is designed to provide the customer with a pack that can be easily opened and reclosed. This is achieved by a patented label system combined with a micrometre-precision cutting technique that helps identify product tampering.

The growing number of Reseal-it® users includes leading manufacturers of cooked meats, cheese, coffee, biscuits and cookies, prepared fruit products, confectionery and savoury snacks.