At Japanese supermarkets, bento and prepared side dishes are often marked down in the late afternoon or evening with stickers showing discounts such as 10%, 20%, or even 50% off.
The reason is simple. The store wants to sell these same-day foods before they are left unsold.
Bento and prepared foods are not products that can sit on the shelf for long periods. Around lunchtime and before dinner, they can still sell well at full price, so there is little reason for the store to discount them early in the day.
But if a large amount is still left as the day goes on, the situation changes.
If the food remains unsold until closing time, the store may eventually have to throw it away. Lowering the price can persuade customers who might not have bought it at full price. For the store, discounting is a way to reduce unsold food.
There is no nationwide rule saying exactly when these discounts must begin.
Even at the same supermarket, the timing and size of the discount can change depending on how quickly the food has sold and how much is still left. There is no universal system where, for example, every bento automatically becomes half price at 7 p.m.
These discounts also help reduce food waste. Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency has promoted discount stickers and similar measures as ways to encourage customers to buy food before it has to be discarded.
But in a real supermarket, something slightly more interesting can happen.
In the evening, a staff member may move through the bento and prepared-food section, checking items one by one and placing 20%-off or half-price stickers on them. Regular customers may even know roughly what time this usually happens.
Once you see the discounting begin, however, paying full price for a bento that has not yet received a sticker can suddenly feel very difficult.
“Maybe if I wait a little longer, this one will be discounted too.”
Even so, most people would not normally take the bento to the staff member and ask, “Can you discount this one too?” The store decides which items are marked down and when.
So some customers wait nearby, pretending not to pay too much attention while keeping an eye on the staff member and the remaining bento.
Once the discount stickers start appearing, a small psychological battle can sometimes begin in the supermarket aisle.
Discounted bento appear in the evening not because Japan has a fixed “half-price hour,” but because the store is watching the time and the amount of food left, and trying to sell as much of that day’s stock as possible.
References
- Consumer Affairs Agency — Food Loss Reduction Guidebook
- Consumer Affairs Agency — Towards Zero Food Loss
