Tesco has confirmed it has surpassed its target to ensure 85 per cent of its surplus food is redistributed, revealing that it donated millions of meals to community groups last year.
The supermarket announced yesterday that 88 per cent of surplus food across its UK business was redistributed during 2022/23, primarily through its long-running partnerships with FareShare and Olio.
FareShare supported nearly 8,500 community groups and charities with surplus food from Tesco's network of stores and distribution centres, with the supermarket donating more than 25 million meals via the charity last year.
Similarly, Tesco's partnership with food sharing app Olio resulted in more than 20 million meals worth of surplus food that could not be used by charities in Fareshare's network being made available free of charge through Olio's Food Waste Heroes service.
Tesco said its surplus food distribution efforts were part of its wider work to tackle food waste, which sees it apply a food waste hierarchy that minimises waste at source, redistributes surplus edible food, and diverts any additional surplus food so it can be converted to pet or animal feed where possible. The remaining 12 per cent of Tesco's surplus food is sent to energy recovery from anaerobic digestion or incineration, ensuring the company sends no food waste to landfill.
"No-one wants to see good food go to waste," said Cheryl Wetherburn, food surplus project manager at Tesco. "With so many people facing food insecurity in the UK, we are working harder than ever to make sure food gets to those who need it. We are incredibly proud of the vital work our partners do every single day, and it's thanks to their efforts - and the hard work of all our colleagues and volunteers - that helps the food reach so many people."
Lindsay Boswell, chief executive at FareShare, said: "It's fantastic to see how committed Tesco is to reducing food waste across all of its operations. The food we receive through Community Food Connection and via Tesco distribution centres as a result of this innovative and award-winning partnership is absolutely vital to the charities and community groups we support, who work tirelessly to feed the people in their community that need it most. Together with Tesco, we are helping to strengthen communities across the UK and make a real difference to people's lives."
Tessa Clarke, CEO and co-founder at Olio, also praised the partnership with the supermarket. "It's wonderful to see Tesco leading by example in the UK retail industry by setting and meeting bold, ambitious food waste reduction targets," she said. "We're truly proud to partner with them - and with FareShare - to make sure that good, edible food never goes to waste, but ends up benefiting people across the country."
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