Discount supermarket giant Aldi has shared a top tip to keep potatoes fresh and edible for much, much longer - sticking them in the freezer. It may sound odd, but according to food waste experts, you can keep potatoes much longer without them going off and sprouting into an alien looking mess by using your fridge freezer’s freezer compartment.

Aldi has partnered with food storage expert Kate Hall to pull together some key advice for shoppers to make their food go further without having to chuck sprouting old potatoes into the compost - or the kitchen bin. Aldi says that 4.4 million potatoes are wasted every day in the UK - that's right, DAY, not year. The retail chain adds that advice surrounding potato storage was actually changed in the last few years, and it is now considered safe to store them in the fridge, which can make them last ‘three times longer’.

But nothing will make them last longer than popping them in the freezer, Aldi says.

Food waste expert, Kate Hall, said: "Using your freezer is such a simple way to press pause on your food so it doesn’t end up in the bin.

"Freezing food can help our budgets stretch further, and you can actually freeze a lot more than people realise. The trick is knowing the best way to freeze food and what to do with it after freezing.

"Roughly 4.4 million potatoes are wasted every day in the UK! Advice around storing potatoes actually changed a couple of years ago and it has been found that keeping them in the fridge can help them last up to three times longer.

"If you’ve not got space in your fridge, it’s okay to keep them in a cool dark place, just store them away from your onions, as these encourage our spuds to sprout faster, and moisture released from spuds can actually make onions go mouldy too.  

"If you know you won’t get through all your potatoes, why not consider freezing them. You can’t freeze them raw, but you can absolutely cook a batch of baked potatoes, prep your roasties, or some mash and pop into the freezer once cooled. You don’t even need to defrost them when you want them, just reheat straight from frozen until they’re piping hot!"

Luke Emery, National Sustainability Director at Aldi UK, said: "At Aldi, we’re committed to reducing food waste wherever we can across our supply chain, whether that be working with suppliers to cut down on waste, or marking down prices of items nearing their sell by date.

"Now we’re on a mission to help shoppers minimise their food waste too, while getting even more value from their Aldi groceries at the same time. It seems simple, but the research shows that freezing items still isn’t something many do – so we want to showcase just how easy that can be."