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Consumers are paying more attention to food expiration dates. When products are close to their expiration dates, consumers may resist buying them due to concerns about freshness or spoilage. For products with a shelf life of more than 12 months (e.g., beverages, snacks), consumers start hesitating when there are 3 months left; for products with a shelf life of 3-6 months (e.g., dairy beverages), hesitation begins at 1 month; for products with a shelf life of less than 1 month (e.g., liquid milk), hesitation occurs when there is a week or 3-4 days left. This is the so-called "near-expiry" problem.

For distributors, the best strategy is to prevent near-expiry products from occurring in the first place. While requiring manufacturers to do their part in promotions, distributors should also take measures to minimize the occurrence. However, based on practical experience, any product with a shelf life will inevitably face near-expiry issues, no matter what precautions are taken.

Distributors commonly use special pricing, buy-one-get-one offers, or returning products to the manufacturer. Each method has its pros and cons and different impacts on the market. How should they be flexibly applied?

Special Pricing and Buy-One-Get-One Offers

Special pricing is the most common method for handling near-expiry products, but it is not suitable for all products. For products with established market influence and brand power, consumers already have trust, and special pricing usually has no minimum purchase requirement, so it works well and has minimal impact on brand image and market.

For example, Manager Liu Guifang in Ci County, Handan, is a distributor for Sanlu liquid milk. Despite good sales in Ci County, near-expiry products inevitably appeared. Manager Liu handled them by setting up stalls at local markets for special pricing. Rural consumers found it a great deal to buy products that usually cost 1 or 2.5 yuan for half the price. Manager Liu honestly told consumers that these were near-expiry products and advised them not to buy too much at once—only what they could consume within a few days. This transparency actually increased consumer confidence.

However, for new brands, consumers lack trust, so special pricing may not be effective and could even create a negative impression that "nobody buys this brand," harming the brand image.

Buy-one-get-one offers are a variation of special pricing. In larger, more standardized supermarkets, buy-one-get-one promotions are common. But in smaller retail points or secondary wholesalers, they often convert the offer into a direct price reduction, effectively becoming special pricing. Therefore, in distribution channels, buy-one-get-one is essentially special pricing, and it's crucial to maintain price system stability.

A well-known juice beverage brand used high pricing to differentiate itself and project a premium image, with excellent sales in the first year. However, due to heavy channel stuffing by the company, distributors accumulated excess inventory. In the second sales season, distributors heavily used buy-one-get-one offers in supermarkets and distribution channels to clear near-expiry stock, causing price chaos across the entire northern region. This severely disrupted channel order and greatly damaged the premium brand image.

Since buy-one-get-one requires a purchase to receive a gift, there is usually a purchase quantity limit. If the required purchase quantity is too large, consumers may refuse to participate due to concerns about consuming the products before expiration. The main advantage of buy-one-get-one is that it gives the impression of a brand promotion, generally without disturbing normal market pricing or affecting brand image.

Returning to Manufacturer

Returning products to the manufacturer is usually the last resort for distributors. However, the shorter the shelf life, the less feasible this option becomes, especially for products with a shelf life of less than 6 months. Even for products with a shelf life of more than 12 months, manufacturers generally do not promise returns unless there is a quality issue. Some manufacturers may promise returns but then make excuses when actual returns are requested, unless the distributor has not paid in full and can use that as leverage—but that is not a good cooperative attitude. Therefore, distributors should try to resolve near-expiry issues on their own as much as possible.

There are many other methods for handling near-expiry products. Based on my experience, the goal should not be just to dispose of them, but to use clever techniques to turn a bad situation into an opportunity to boost product sales.

Free Sampling

This method is suitable for new brands or new product varieties in the promotion stage. Food is something that goes into the mouth, and consumers judge quality mainly through taste. Some consumers do not buy new brands or varieties simply because they are unfamiliar. Free sampling is one of the most common and basic promotion methods for new products. During free sampling, the product packaging is usually held by the promoter, so consumers cannot see the expiration date, minimizing the impact of near-expiry status while also promoting the product. Of course, this is a market investment, so distributors should seek manufacturer support for such activities.

I remember a juice beverage brand in Siping, Jilin, which was new and had poor initial sales, resulting in about 100 boxes of near-expiry products. The distributor set up four or five free sampling points in major commercial areas, with sales staff conducting a three-day free tasting event. It started with small samples and evolved into giving away whole cans, clearly stating that the products were near expiry. Surprisingly, because the "near-expiry products tasted and were of good quality," the brand unexpectedly opened up the market.

Additionally, selecting key accounts as disposal points is suitable for most products. Leveraging the leadership consumption role of key accounts in their areas can help open up small regional markets. For example, a dairy beverage brand in Baoding chose the Oriental Supermarket near Dongfang Machinery Factory in Langfang as a near-expiry disposal point, successfully opening up the factory's residential area market.

Three points to note when using this method:

  1. Choose several key accounts for disposal to avoid affecting brand image by frequently using the same location.
  2. The key account must meet four conditions: good sales performance, good local customer relationships, willingness to cooperate, and being in a relatively closed area so as not to affect other small regional customers.
  3. Provide additional incentives to the key account, such as cash or regular product rewards for selling a certain quantity, special support during regular promotions, or active cooperation in their own activities.

Group Buying

The biggest advantage of group buying to absorb near-expiry products is that it can solve the problem in one go and also serve as product promotion. The prerequisite is having several enterprises or institutions that can organize group purchases. Securing a group purchase from a large enterprise can not only clear a large amount of near-expiry stock but also play a significant role in opening up sales channels.

Boss Liu in Daqing, Heilongjiang, is such a smart distributor. He heard that the beverage brand he distributed had a large amount of near-expiry products in its Northeast branch. He contacted the manufacturer, sent samples to the local quality inspection department for testing, and after obtaining a qualified inspection report, he used the original and new reports along with his good relationships with some enterprises in Daqing Petrochemical to secure group purchases. With the inspection report and his connections, Boss Liu quickly sold several thousand boxes, helping the manufacturer solve the near-expiry problem and making a profit himself. He repeated this several times and earned a lot. This case is not meant for everyone to imitate but to provide ideas for distributors with good social connections.

In some southern regions, individuals or companies with good relationships in government or financial sectors specialize in contacting distributors at wholesale markets to handle near-expiry products. In other words, if you don't have such capabilities, you can rely on others to do group buying for near-expiry products, which requires distributors to be observant in daily operations.

Additionally, many distributors have special clients, and using them to absorb near-expiry products is similar to group buying. Special clients mainly refer to enterprises, institutions, especially schools, military canteens, or beverage machine owners. Some canteens serve bulk products during meals, and since bulk products have no packaging, the expiration date issue is completely resolved. This method is particularly suitable for milk, bagged fried snacks, etc., while beverage machine owners are suitable for all liquid foods, especially juice beverages. Some county-level distributors in Hengshui, Hebei, often use this method to handle near-expiry milk and dairy beverages with good results.

Prizes and Sponsorships

For products that frequently run promotions, near-expiry products can be used as prizes. This method requires overall planning—do not rush to dispose of near-expiry products, but use them collectively according to planned promotional activities. The downside is that it may affect brand image to some extent.

Distributors who frequently encounter near-expiry products can develop a special policy to provide additional incentives to employees or channel members. For example, if employees or channel members can resolve near-expiry issues, they receive special policies and rewards each time, plus cumulative annual rewards. Liquid milk distributors should adopt this approach. The biggest advantage is mobilizing the enthusiasm and potential of all employees and channel members.

A distributor in Changchun specializing in beverages and snacks developed a specific near-expiry handling policy: whether internal staff or customers, they could get a minimum price for handling near-expiry products, with the excess as a reward, and an additional year-end bonus based on performance.

Manager Fu of Anyang Sanqiang Subsidiary Foods, a distributor for Sanlu dairy products, cleverly combined near-expiry handling with channel member display work. To attract attention, terminal displays often require a certain amount of shelf space, but liquid milk has a short shelf life, and large displays are more prone to near-expiry issues. Manager Fu's solution was to use empty boxes instead of real products, creating an eye-catching display effect with neatly arranged empty boxes. However, many secondary wholesalers damaged or discarded the boxes when selling products. To encourage box recycling, Manager Fu offered a policy: for every empty box returned, the channel member received a bag of near-expiry milk. This significantly increased the enthusiasm of channel members to protect and recycle empty boxes.

If this method is used for activities organized by government departments, it can have a public relations effect. If sponsoring activities for communities, schools, or enterprises, it can also have a promotional effect. For example, during the SARS period, Hebei Xiangyao Dairy sponsored epidemic prevention personnel in Hengshui, which strengthened its relationship with the Hengshui city government. The biggest problem with this method is that it basically does not recover payment, and without manufacturer support, it is difficult for distributors to handle large quantities on their own, so manufacturer support is essential.

Additionally, selling to consumers who are less sensitive to expiration dates is another option. For children's foods or products suitable for children, such as snacks, dairy products, and beverages, choosing stores near middle schools or primary schools as disposal points can be effective because younger students are less concerned about expiration dates. This method is legally and morally acceptable, but the prerequisite is ensuring product quality.

There are many more ways to handle near-expiry products, and distributors need to discover and create them in their daily work.