Across the UK, around 300
volunteers work in
FareShare’s network of 17 depots
Mark Varney director of food at FareShare says,
despite UK retailers being “some of the most efficient, sophisticated and respected in the world”, there are still surpluses created “by the very nature of the way they operate and our expectations and habits as consumers.” Whatever waste reduction schemes are in place at
factory or retail level, there will always be a degree of surplus, he believes. “A lot of retailers have worked hard to reduce waste; we don’t want it to be wasted, but when it is it should be shared with us,” he argues.
Crates are usually boxed according to category
In reality The rule of thumb for most supermarket retailers is if food can’t be sold or charities aren’t interested in making use of it, only then will it be discarded – used, for example, as animal feed, for anaerobic digestion, composting or to a small, lessening extent to landfill. In practice, however, the reality is more complex, often leading to a digression from the rule of thumb.
Chief executive of FareShare, Lindsay Boswell says the organisation handles “around 1% of the surplus food available in the UK so we desperately need more responsible food businesses to work with us.” The issue is all the more pressing given the soaring demand facing the company is currently outpacing the amount of food being sent to them. FareShare is aiming to take on 10,000 tonnes of food by the end of 2015. “Demand is increasing, we don’t have enough food to meet current demand – we provide on average about 20% of their needs, we’d like to offer a lot more,” explains Varney. While most retailers are in theory convinced
by FareShare’s proposal, many fall short when it comes to implementation. The reality is far more complex, according to Varney. “I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t conceptually embrace the idea – it’s a compelling proposition, but there are lots of compelling propositions from a sustainability perspective.”
As with many sustainability policies, the last few
years has seen increasing traction for food charities’ relationship with retailers. “We’ve seen a more collaborative environment over past couple of years. And we increasingly will see that,” says Varney. “I think there’s definite increase in focus on sustainable business strategies amongst the retail sector. The fact that food waste is an increasing issue for citizens seems to be more important. Sainsbury’s was among the first major retailer to get on board with this,” he says.
Changing the status quo
Where some retailers fall at the first hurdle is accepting a change to their traditional waste strategies. While a
JUNE 2013 | RETAIL ENVIRONMENT 25
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