What is the best way to organise a pantry?

The best way to organise a pantry is to group items by category, label everything clearly, keep older items visible, and maintain a simple pantry inventory so you know what you already have before shopping.

How can pantry organisation save money?

Pantry organisation helps you avoid buying duplicate groceries, use ingredients before they expire, and plan meals around food and ingredients you already own.

How often should I reorganise my pantry?

Ideally, do a full pantry reset every few months, but a quick five-minute weekly check helps keep items organised and prevents food from being forgotten.

What is a use first pantry section?

A use first section is a dedicated area for opened items, near-expiry ingredients, or food that should be used soon.

How can I save money on groceries without feeling restricted?

You can save money on groceries by checking what you already have, planning meals around existing ingredients, and only buying what you need for the week.

What is the biggest grocery budgeting mistake?

One of the biggest grocery budgeting mistakes is buying food you already have at home because your pantry, fridge, or freezer is not easy to check before shopping.

Can meal planning reduce grocery costs?

Yes. Meal planning helps you shop with purpose, reduce impulse purchases, and use ingredients before they expire.

How does Shelve help with grocery budgeting?

Shelve helps you track pantry items, plan meals, and create grocery lists based on what you already have.

Why is food waste a global problem?

Food waste is a global problem because it wastes money, resources, energy, water, and food that could have been eaten.

How much food is wasted globally each year?

More than US $1 trillion worth of food is wasted globally each year, making food waste a major economic and environmental issue.

What causes food waste at home?

Common causes of food waste at home include overbuying groceries, forgetting ingredients, poor pantry visibility, and letting food expire before it is used.

How can households reduce food waste?

Households can reduce food waste by tracking what they already have, planning meals before shopping, using older ingredients first, and avoiding duplicate purchases.

How much food does the average New Zealand household waste?

The average New Zealand household wastes around $1,300 worth of food each year, often through forgotten ingredients, expired food, leftovers, and duplicate groceries.

Why do people throw away food at home?

Food is often thrown away because people forget what they have, buy more than they need, or do not use ingredients before they expire.

How can I reduce food waste at home?

You can reduce food waste at home by checking your pantry, fridge, and freezer before shopping, planning meals around existing ingredients, and tracking expiry dates.

Can an app help reduce food waste?

Yes. A pantry and meal planning app like Shelve can help you see what food you already have, track expiry dates, and reduce unnecessary grocery purchases.

Why do I keep buying duplicate groceries?

Duplicate groceries often happen when you cannot easily see what is already in your pantry, fridge, or freezer before shopping.

How can I stop buying food I already have?

Keep a pantry inventory, check your kitchen before shopping, and use a grocery list based on what you already own.

Are grocery lists enough to stop overbuying?

Not always. A grocery list shows what you plan to buy, but it does not show what you already have at home.

How does Shelve prevent duplicate grocery shopping?

Shelve connects pantry tracking, meal planning, recipes, and grocery lists so you can shop based on what you actually need and avoid unnecessary purchases.

What is zero-waste cooking?

Zero-waste cooking is a way of cooking that focuses on using ingredients fully, repurposing leftovers, and reducing the amount of food thrown away.

How do beginners start zero-waste cooking?

Beginners can start zero-waste cooking by planning meals, checking ingredients before shopping, storing food properly, freezing leftovers, and using food scraps creatively.

Does zero-waste cooking save money?

Yes. Using more of the food you buy means fewer wasted groceries and fewer unnecessary supermarket trips.

What foods can be reused instead of thrown away?

Vegetable scraps can become stock, stale bread can become breadcrumbs, and overripe fruit can be used in smoothies, baking, or sauces.

What is seasonal meal planning?

Seasonal meal planning means building meals around ingredients that are naturally in season, easier to find, and often more affordable.

Does eating seasonally save money?

Eating seasonally can help save money because seasonal produce is often more available, which can make it cheaper than out-of-season ingredients.

How do I make a seasonal meal plan?

Start by checking what you already have, choosing a few seasonal ingredients, and planning flexible meals such as soups, stir-fries, salads, curries, or pasta dishes.

How does seasonal meal planning reduce food waste?

Seasonal meal planning reduces food waste by encouraging you to buy ingredients with a plan, reuse ingredients across meals, and avoid random groceries that may go unused.

Best Before vs Use By: What Food Date Labels Really Mean

Rochelle Asilo

Sep 6

5 min read

The simple difference can help you protect your household, save money, and throw away less food.

QUICK ANSWER

In New Zealand and Australia, a use-by date is about safety: do not eat food after that date. A best-before date is about quality: correctly stored food may still be safe after the date, although its taste, texture, or freshness may decline. Always follow the storage and after-opening instructions on the package.

You open the fridge, find a yoghurt dated yesterday and pause. Is it unsafe, or simply past its best? The answer depends on the exact words beside the date.

Confusing a best-before date with a use-by date can work in both directions. You might throw away perfectly edible food, or take a risk with food that should be discarded. Learning the difference gives you a clearer, safer way to decide what to keep, use first, freeze, or bin.

Best Before vs Use By at a Glance

Label	What it means	What to do
Use by	A safety date in New Zealand and Australia	Use it, cook it, or freeze it before the date. Do not eat it after the date, even if it seems fine.
Best before	A quality date	After the date, check that it was stored correctly and assess its condition. Quality may be lower.
After opening	The printed date may no longer be the whole story	Follow directions such as “refrigerate after opening” or “use within three days,” and note when you opened it.

Source: New Zealand Food Safety and Food Standards Australia New Zealand

What Does a Use-By Date Mean?

In New Zealand and Australia, a use-by date marks the point after which a food may pose a health or safety risk. New Zealand Food Safety advises that food can make you sick after its use-by date even when it looks, smells, or tastes normal.

That last detail matters. A sniff test cannot reliably detect every harmful microorganism, so use-by food should not be judged by appearance alone.

You will usually see use-by dates on foods that need tighter safety controls. Whatever the product, the action is the same: follow the date and the storage instructions on the package. If you will not use the food in time, freeze it before the use-by date when the label and official guidance say freezing is suitable.

SAFETY RULE

Past the use-by date in New Zealand or Australia? Do not eat it. When in doubt about a high-risk food, follow the package and official food-safety advice rather than relying on smell or appearance.

What Does a Best-Before Date Mean?

A best-before date tells you when a food is expected to retain its best quality. Food Standards Australia New Zealand explains that food may still be safe after this date, provided it has been stored correctly and has not deteriorated.

After a best-before date, you may notice changes such as softer texture, less crunch, fading flavour, or staling. Those are quality changes, not automatic proof that the food is unsafe.

Before keeping or eating a product past its best-before date, check four things:

Storage: Was it kept exactly as the label directs, including refrigeration where required?

Packaging: Is the seal intact, with no swelling, leaking, rust, or serious damage?

Condition: Is there mould, an unusual smell, unexpected texture, or another clear sign of spoilage?

After-opening guidance: Did the product say to use it within a shorter period once opened?

Do not taste food to find out whether it is safe. If the package is damaged, storage history is uncertain, or the food appears spoiled, discard it.

A Five-Step Routine to Use Food Before Its Date

Understanding the label prevents unnecessary waste. A small routine prevents the food from being forgotten in the first place.

Record the date when food comes home. Add the products you are most likely to lose track of, such as yoghurt, deli items, fresh proteins, sauces, pantry back-ups, and freezer meals. Start with a manageable category instead of trying to catalogue the whole kitchen at once.

Create a use-first view. Keep the foods with the nearest relevant dates visible. In a physical fridge, that might be a front shelf or a small “use first” zone. In Shelve, expiry awareness helps you notice items before they become an unpleasant surprise.

Plan one meal around what needs attention. Before choosing a full week of recipes, select one or two ingredients that should be used soon. Then build a meal around them and add only the missing ingredients to your grocery list.

Freeze early, not as a rescue after the date. If plans change, decide whether suitable food can be frozen while it is still within its date. Label the container with what it is and when it was frozen, then add it to your freezer inventory.

Mark the opening date. For jars, sauces, stocks, dairy products, and leftovers, the opening or cooking date may become more useful than the original best-before date. Follow the package’s after-opening instructions.

How Shelve Fits Into the Routine

Shelve connects pantry tracking, meal planning, recipes, expiry awareness, and grocery lists in one flow. The useful part is not simply storing a date. It is seeing that date early enough to make a better decision.

For example, when spinach, yoghurt, and an open jar of sauce need using soon, you can:

See the items in your kitchen inventory
Choose or save a recipe that uses them
Add the meal to your plan
Build a grocery list for only the ingredients you are missing

That pantry-to-meal-to-grocery workflow reduces the chance that date tracking becomes another list you maintain but never use.

New to pantry tracking? Start with Shelve’s guide to choosing and using a pantry inventory app. For the bigger picture, see how household food waste adds up.

A Note for Readers in the United States

Date-label language is not uniform across countries. In the United States, USDA guidance says that, except for infant formula, federal food date labels generally indicate quality rather than safety. Phrases such as “sell by,” “best if used by,” and “use by” can therefore work differently from the regulated use-by meaning in New Zealand and Australia.

US readers should follow the package instructions, safe-storage guidance, and any applicable state or local rules. Never apply one country’s date-label rule automatically to food sold in another.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you eat food after its best-before date?

Often, yes. In New Zealand and Australia, a best-before date concerns quality. Food may still be safe after the date if it was stored correctly, the packaging is sound, and there are no signs of spoilage. Follow any after-opening instructions as well.

Can you eat food after its use-by date?

In New Zealand and Australia, no. A use-by date is about safety, and food should not be eaten after that date even if it looks or smells normal.

Can you freeze food on its use-by date?

Plan to freeze suitable food before the use-by date and follow the label’s freezing instructions. New Zealand Food Safety recommends freezing food before its best-before or use-by date, then handling it safely when thawing.

Does the date still apply after a package is opened?

Not by itself. Instructions such as “refrigerate after opening” or “use within three days” may create a shorter timeframe. Write down the date you opened the product and follow the package guidance.

How can an app help with food expiry dates?

A pantry-management app can help you record dates, see which items need using first, connect those items to meal plans, and avoid buying duplicates. It does not replace the package label or official food-safety advice.

Use the Date, Not Just the Food

The simplest way to remember the difference is this: use by is about safety; best before is about quality. Once that rule is clear, the next step is visibility. Track the foods that are easy to forget, bring the nearest dates forward, and let those ingredients shape at least one meal each week.

Try Shelve to keep your pantry, meal plan, recipes, expiry awareness, and grocery list connected, so more of the food you buy has a plan before its date arrives.