Best-By Date

What Is a Best-By Date?

A best-by date, sometimes printed as best before or best if used by, is a date the manufacturer sets to show when a product is expected to be at peak quality. It is common on snacks, coffee, tea, supplements and many personal care products. For most foods, a best-by date is generally a quality indicator rather than a safety deadline, though labeling rules vary by product type and location. It is different from an expiration date, which some products use to show the date after which they should not be used.

How It Works

In a warehouse, best-by dates are tracked so the oldest stock ships first and nothing sits past its useful life:

• Capture at receiving: the date, and often the lot number, is recorded when inventory arrives.
• Location tracking: units with different dates are kept identifiable in the warehouse system.
• FEFO picking: orders are picked from the lot with the earliest date first.
• Alerts: inventory approaching its date can be flagged so the brand can run a promotion or pull it.

For example, a coffee brand receives two pallets of the same blend with best-by dates in March and June. The warehouse ships the March lot first, so customers always get the freshest rotation and the June stock is not sold out of order.

Why It Matters for Ecommerce Brands

Customers notice dates. Receiving a product close to its best-by date can lead to complaints, returns and poor reviews, and retail partners often have their own requirements for how much shelf life remaining stock must have. Tracking dates also helps brands plan production runs, reduce write-offs from aged inventory and decide when to discount slow-moving stock. For food and supplement brands, date tracking is a core part of quality control.