UK supermarket chain ASDA have announced that they are to team up with charity FoodShare to help cut food waste and support some of the most vulnerable people in the UK.
This pioneering change means an extra 1,500 tonnes of food will go to UK charities every year – increasing the amount of food redistributed by FareShare by 41%. That’s the same as an extra 3.6 million meals every year.
It’ll also save the 910 charities supported by FareShare a massive £4.5 million every year.
"We’ve achieved all this by making a relatively simple change in our supply chain. Suppliers sometimes send us ‘overs’ – more stock than expected. This can quickly add up to thousands of cases of food, especially when you consider that nine million cases of fresh food are delivered to Asda every week."
Returning these ‘overs’ to the suppliers costs money and time and the food is often out of date by the time it reaches them. So instead of sending this stock back, ASDA are going to give it directly to FareShare.
The charities FareShare help provide a whole range of services across the UK, such as housing homeless people and providing a refuge from domestic violence.
Barry Williams, ASDA's chief merchandising officer for food, said, “Food poverty is a very real problem and it’s getting worse, not better. Through our new supply chain model and work with FareShare, I’m proud that we’re able to help feed millions of families around the UK who would otherwise go hungry.”
Lindsay Boswell, FareShare CEO, said: “We know that there are more people turning to charities for food than at any other time in FareShare’s history. This initiative will mean we can provide more food to more charities and will enable us to feed even more people at a time of real need.”
