Working with food redistribution charity FareShare, the ‘groundbreaking’ scheme will see Tesco store managers alert charities to the amount of surplus food they have left at the end of each day, using an app developed by social enterprise FoodCloud.
A charity can then confirm if it wants the food before collecting it from the store free of charge and delivering it to those in need, such as homeless hostels wormen’s refugees, breakfast clubs for disadvantaged children and range of other causes which FareShare works with.
The scheme, which aims to reduce up to 30,000 tonnes of edible food thrown away at Tesco stores and distribution centres last year, is already in place at Tesco stores in Ireland and will now be piloted in 10 stores around the UK.
According to Tesco, recent figures for 2014/15 show that 55,400 tonnes of food was thrown away at Tesco stores and distribution centres in the UK, of which around 30,000 tonnes could otherwise have been eaten.
Tesco said around 1% of food waste occurs within its supermarket operations, while the rest is thrown away earlier in the chain in the likes of suppliers’ fields and factories, or in customers’ homes.
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FoodCloud is supplying the technology and expertise developed from the scheme in Ireland, while FareShare said it would be supporting all its charities to ensure they are using the surplus food safely.
Tesco chief executive, Dave Lewis, said: “No one wants to throw away food which could otherwise be eaten. We don’t throw away much food in our own operations but even the 1% we do throw away amounts to 55,400 tonnes.”
He added: “This is potentially the biggest single step we’ve taken to cut food waste, and we hope it marks the start of eliminating the need to throw away edible food in our stores.”
The partnership between Tesco and FareShare spans three years, and has seen more than 4.5 million meals of surplus food donated to almost 2,000 charities and community groups in the UK
Lindsay Boswell, FareShare chief executive, said: “FareShare already has a long standing partnership with Tesco and the development of the FareShare FoodCloud is a natural evolution of this.
“We understand that customers get angry when they see food being wasted in their local store. We do too and that is why we have spent 20 years developing our successful charity redistribution model. Our partnership with Tesco means we are already able to access surplus food from their supply chain, Distribution Centres and dotcoms.”
WRAP
Tesco’s initiative was welcomed by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), with WRAP’s director of sustainable food systems, Richard Swannell, commenting that “having a system that allows charities to identify what surplus food is available in their local area is a great way to ensure food that cannot be sold reaches those most in need”.
He added: “Ensuring that good food goes to people is beneficial for society, the environment and the economy and is consistent with the targets in the Courtauld Commitment, of which Tesco is a signatory.”
Tesco unveiled its plan to reduce food waste across its global operations as one of its three major corporate responsibility goals in May 2013, and last year became the first major UK retailer to publish its food waste figures, which showed that 56,580 tonnes of food was wasted in its stores and distribution centres in the UK in 2013/14 (see letsrecycle.com story).
The supermarket also ended ‘buy one get one free’ offers on fruit and vegetables in the UK in April 2014 in a bid to cut food waste.
In June 2013, rival supermarket giant ASDA also announced plans to give 1,500 tonnes of surplus food each year to FareShare (see letsrecycle.com story).
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