MORRISONS is set to provide two million meals to families in need while reducing food waste from its food-making operations.
Morrisons is extending its work with food redistribution charity The Bread and Butter Thing (TBBT) to provide food for thousands of families in the UK, while at the same time significantly reducing food waste in its food making operations and supply chain around the UK.
Food factories are the second highest source of food waste after households, according to the food waste charity WRAP. This typically happens because of overproduction, imperfections, mis-labelling or because the food runs out of shelf life.
During 2021, Morrisons plans to redistribute surplus food to 30,000 families in need through the charity.
Morrisons partnership with TBBT was set up in 2016 and has so far provided two million meals to its members.
The food – amounting to another 800 tonnes or two million meals a year – will come from a range of Morrisons food-making sites, distribution centres, and UK suppliers.
The range of products donated will include fruit and vegetables, meat and fish, prepared food and bread.
TBBT will redistribute it to families in need of healthy and nutritious meals. Its research found 80 per cent of adults who received food from TBBT are skipping meals themselves to feed their families.
Steven Butts, Head of Corporate Responsibility at Morrisons, said: “Reducing food waste is important to our customers, colleagues and shareholders. We’ve made very strong progress in reducing waste in our supermarkets over many years. But there is still more to do behind the scenes and this extension of our partnership with TBBT will mean that they can do even more for families around the UK while at the same time helping us further reduce wasted food.”
Mark Game, CEO of TBBT, said: “We’ve all faced enormous challenges this year and we could not have done it without Morrisons’ continued support and the heroic efforts of its team to keep its surplus food coming to us in addition to feeding the nation during this tumultuous time. I’m enormously grateful to Morrisons and all its staff for helping us to keep our members fed with quality, nutritious food which, for a whole variety of reasons, couldn’t be sold.
“We work in some of the UK’s most deprived communities. The financial savings for people using our service are significant, people eat better quality and a bigger variety of food, and we save tonnes of surplus edible food from going to waste. It’s a win/win solution for everyone. Morrisons have been a major supporter since our launch in 2016, and I’m excited that this new, extended partnership will enable us to grow nationwide.”
