Asda has announced that it increased the amount of food donated to charity by a whopping 58% in the past year, according to figures published as part of the retailer’s annual food waste and surplus data.
Through its Fight Hunger Create Change programme the supermarket donated enough food for over 4.2m meals in 2019, including donations from depots, home offices and its back of store donation scheme, which ensures food which is no longer able to be sold but is still edible goes to help those who most need it in the in community. The scheme has been rolled out to more than 450 smaller format supermarkets with all stores and depots now able to donate surplus food – a target reached ahead of schedule.
The £20m charitable partnership between Asda, food redistribution charity FareShare and anti-poverty charity the Trussell Trust, has also seen Asda invest to build FareShare’s infrastructure, so that more surplus food from all retailers and brands is able to be diverted to good causes.
The grocer has also committed to reducing food waste by 20% by 2025, with a further commitment to halve it by 2030 and increase transparency around food waste. This is the second time it has publicly reported its annual food and surplus waste figures, ensuring customers are able to monitor progress.
Further building on the last 12 months, the supermarket also continues to extend its back of store food donation program to all of its supermarkets and is expanding its ‘bread to animal feed’ program.
Karen Todd, Senior Manager – Zero Waste at Asda, said: “I’m delighted with the huge progress that’s been made with our back of store donation scheme and the massive increase in the amount of food we have been able to donate and help those in our local communities. It is important that we continue to work alongside suppliers, colleagues and our customers to make sure we halve food waste by 2030. In our latest Asda 1000 survey, 92% of our customers said that reducing food waste was important to them, so we know it is a subject they are passionate about and it is important to show how we are tackling this challenge.”
