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Dynamic expiration date-based discounting of fresh food products

Author

Listed:
  • Haijema, Rene
  • Duijvestijn, Lisan
  • Akkerman, Renzo
  • Cruijssen, Frans

Abstract

To reduce food waste, many supermarkets discount food products that are close to their expiration date. In practice, this is done either by discount labels put on the product or by electronic shelf labels (or digital price tags) showing the price per expiration date. Digital price tags allow to easily change the price of products and to apply different discount rates to items with different expiration dates. An important question to practitioners is when and how much discount to offer. In this study, we use Stochastic Dynamic Programming (SDP) to derive optimal expiration-date-based discounting policies for a profit-maximizing retailer who sells a product with m periods (e.g., days) of shelf life. We compare various discounting strategies, such as static last-day discounting, optimal dynamic last-day, and last-two-days discounting, against the no-discounting strategy.

Suggested Citation

  • Haijema, Rene & Duijvestijn, Lisan & Akkerman, Renzo & Cruijssen, Frans, 2026. "Dynamic expiration date-based discounting of fresh food products," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:proeco:v:292:y:2026:i:c:s0925527325003093
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpe.2025.109824
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