Shop tackles food waste
COMMUNITY GROUP EXPANDS, SELLING SUPERMARKETS’ SURPLUS
A GROUP dedicated to tackling “food waste and food poverty” is to open a shop.
Perfectly Edible runs a community cafe and market stall at West End Neighbourhood Centre every Friday.
Its zero-waste community shop which will be open five days a week, from next Tuesday.
Managing director Gemma Orton said: “The community shop has been in the pipeline for quite some time, so we are extremely excited to open.
“It is our hope the shop will not only increase the amount of food we prevent from being sent to landfill but also prove to be a sustainable resource to the community, allowing anyone and everyone, but particularly those who suffer with food insecurity, access to fresh and packaged produce they may not otherwise be able to afford.”
The food will mainly be from supermarkets, and will be after its best before date or have damaged packaging.
Gemma said: “We will try our best to offer produce that has either recyclable packaging or is packagingfree, with food dispensers providing an opportunity for customers to buy produce in smaller quantities using their own containers, and loose fruit and veg.
“However, it will be incredibly hard to avoid certain types of packaging, as this is how we receive them when intercepting them from supermarkets.
“If we were to refuse certain types of food based on their packaging, both the food and the packaging would end up in landfill, which is exactly what we don’t want.”
The community shop will be open five days per week, including Thursday evenings and Saturday lunchtime.
Packaged produce will be heavily discounted and all of the fruit, vegetables and bread will be available on a pay-as-you-wish basis, similar to the Friday market. This allows customers to take what they need and pay what they can afford.
Customers will also be able to buy hot drinks and smoothies, and in the future there will be food, made with rescued produce.
The shop is at West End Neighbourhood Centre, Andrewes Street, Leicester.