Tesco to cut waste by giving food to charity every day

THOUSANDS of tonnes of supermarket food are to be given to charity at the end of each day rather than being thrown away. The move has been announced by Tesco at a time when stores are coming under increasing pressure over the huge amount of food wasted.

It is a remarkable U-turn for Britain’s biggest supermarket, which has previously been involved in the prosecution of people who take food from its bins.

The products most commonly thrown away are bakery goods, followed by fresh fruit and vegetables and convenience items such as sandwiches and salads.

France’s parliament recently voted for a law that makes it illegal for supermarkets to dump food, and campaigners in the UK want similar legislation.

Tesco has admitted discarding 55,400 tonnes of food every year – 30,000 tonnes of which is perfectly good to eat.

Other stores have refused to publish food waste totals, apparently for fear of being criticised, but the figures are likely to be at least as bad.

Tesco has signed a partnership with FareShare, a food distribution charity, and FoodCloud, which has devised an app allowing store managers to alert charities to the surplus food they have at the end of each day.

The charity then confirms it wants the items, picks them up free of charge and turns them into meals for those in need.

FareShare works with charities including homeless hostels, women’s refuges and breakfast clubs for disadvantaged children. Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis said: ‘No one wants to throw away food which could otherwise be eaten … 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.’

All supermarkets have seen an increase in the number of people searching for food in bins at the back of stores.

Last month, a judge in Sunderland threw out the prosecution of a couple who were charged with theft after taking out-of-date groceries from bins outside a Tesco in the city.

Paul Barker, 39, and wife Kerry, 29, resorted to desperate measures after their benefits were stopped and they claimed they could not afford to feed their children.

District Judge Roger Elsey imposed no punishment, on the basis that the food they took was not worth anything.

At the time, Tesco said it was ‘not safe to take food from bins’.

The supermarket already gives some surplus food to FareShare, however the FoodCloud app is expected to bring a huge increase.

The scheme is already in place at Tesco stores in Ireland, and will now be piloted in ten shops around the UK.

Lindsay Boswell, FareShare’s chief executive, said: ‘We understand 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.’

FoodCloud’s Iseult Ward said: ‘Our work in Ireland means that over 300 charities have already benefited.’

‘Could otherwise be eaten’