Tesco bids to end surplus food waste by diverting it to people in need

Retail giant Tesco plans to eliminate surplus food waste from its network of Irish stores within three years, diverting it instead to people in need.

Tesco Ireland made the pledge in Cork yesterday as it launched its Community Chill campaign to help charities and groups store more of its surplus food donations.

Three years after launching its food surplus programme and just a week after becoming the first retailer in Ireland to publish its food waste data, the company said it aims to ensure that none of its surplus food, which is still fit for human consumption, will go to waste by 2020.

In a bid to reach that target, the retailer has set aside €150,000 under the Community Chill scheme to buy some 400 fridges and freezers this year, which will be made available to groups who redistribute surplus food for charity.

Tesco Ireland chief executive Andrew Yaxley said it is just not right that perfectly good surplus food should go to waste when there are people in local communities who need it.

“Working in partnership with over 260 charitable groups around the country and listening to their feedback, we have identified that the charitable sector need a helping hand to increase their storage facilities so they can redistribute even more surplus food to those in need,” he said.

“So to support, we’re launching a new initiative to donate brand new fridges and freezers to groups who currently collect surplus food donations from us, or who want to sign up to take part.”

Since 2014, Tesco has donated over 4m meals of surplus food to more than 260 community groups across the country, including family resource centres, soup kitchens, youth services, and homeless and Meals on Wheels organisations.

The Foyer youth homeless facility in Blackpool, Cork, got involved with Tesco 12 months ago and takes daily deliveries of surplus meat, fish, and vegetables from Tesco stores in Mahon, Wilton, Douglas and Paul St.

Denis Murphy, Foyer’s life skills and talent coach, said its food bill has decreased dramatically.

“It means that we have the ability to cook different types of meals and more of them,” he said.

Foyer also uses stored food in up to three cooking classes it runs for its residents every week.

“It gives our residents the ability to look after themselves so that they won’t have a hungry day,” said Mr Murphy.

Tesco’s surplus food donations usually include fresh fruit, vegetables, baked goods, and meat, with the volume of donated food the equivalent of over 40,000 meals every week.

FoodCloud, which was co-founded by Tesco in 2013, estimates that these food donations have helped the various groups save over €5.8m in food bills in that time.

Tesco has urged more groups who could benefit from its surplus food donations to contact it at tesco.ie/notimeforwaste

before November 31.