Project will help cut food waste in the county

Representatives from Central England Co-op and FareShare come together
to celebrate the roll-out of the food redistribution project. — Representatives from Central England Co-op and FareShare come together to celebrate the roll-out of the food redistribution project.

The retailer has teamed up with FareShare East Midlands to help good causes and reduce waste in food stores.

The project will see best before food items and non-food goods that cannot be sold collected by colleagues from the society’s food distribution centre in Leicester then delivered to FareShare to send out to over 250 local charities.

Those involved in the project say the scheme will help cut food waste by at least 40 per cent and provide over one million meals a year to vulnerable people.

Hannah Gallimore, Central England Co-operative corporate responsibility manager, said: “Food waste is a topic customers and colleagues regularly talk to us about and it is an area that has always been at the forefront of plans at the society.

“We have been looking for a solution to this issue for many years and are now proud to be able to reveal our plan to tackle food waste in a manner that also has a major impact for our communities and our partners.

“This is why, following the success of our pilot project, we are delighted to be able to announce that we are working with FareShare East Midlands and rolling out this project across our trading estate in an effort to drive down food waste and at the same time have a major impact by helping people in need in our communities.”

David Moon, head of business collaboration at Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), said: “We are delighted Central England Co-operative is to expand its programme for surplus food redistribution.”