FareShare has teamed up with KFC UK & Ireland to launch a new food redistribution partnership which will help deliver surplus food from KFC restaurants to people most in need and to prevent it from going to waste.
With the current cost of living crisis and more than 10% of the UK’s population facing food insecurity each day, this programme will help deliver the equivalent of more than four million meals1 across the year to local people in need, at a time when many are faced with rising food prices and crippling energy bills.
The full rollout will see KFC onboard the majority of its 1,000 restaurants by the end of 2022, following a successful pilot in 20 outlets in the Midlands, the North East and Essex. Since the beginning of the eight-month trial period, the partnership has redistributed the equivalent of more than 27,500 meals to over 22 local community groups via FareShare Go.
This partnership is on a big mission to combat unnecessary food waste and KFC will take a systemic approach to ensuring all unsold food is redistributed to local communities – and at scale. The partnership is also FareShare Go’s first venture into frozen food, further diversifying the food offering available to people facing hunger.
Jenny Packwood, Chief Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Officer at KFC, says: “Being a good neighbour means caring about local people and supporting the local issues that matter most. The last two years have been really tough – but particularly tough for some more than others. We’ve seen more and more people in the local communities that we serve being plunged into food insecurity and, as the cost of living crisis intensifies, it is more important than ever that we make sure any surplus food gets to the people who need it most.
“We want to move fast and hard on rolling out our food redistribution programme by the end of the year, and across all of our restaurants, because we cannot sit by while our communities suffer. That’s why we’re thrilled to be working with FareShare to deliver so many meals, which would have otherwise gone to waste, to people facing hunger in our communities across the country. By redistributing our surplus fried chicken, we’ll not only be tackling food insecurity, but we’ll also be taking an important step towards our goal of become a fully circular, zero waste business by 2035.”
In a recent survey of more than 1,200 charities receiving food though FareShare, 90% of those organisations say their services have been affected by the cost of living crisis, and 75% say they’ve seen an increase in demand for their services over the last year.
Lindsay Boswell, Chief Executive at FareShare says: “We believe no good food should go to waste which is why we’re so excited to be partnering with KFC. This partnership marks the first time we will be offering frozen poultry products to local communities using the FareShare Go app, complimenting the fresh fruit and veg, and bakery items typically received.
“With the current cost of living crisis affecting millions of people already struggling to make ends meet, this food is needed now more than ever and we anticipate that, through this partnership, more than 2,000 charities and community groups will be able to collect from their local KFC restaurant.”
1The equivalent of four million meals forecasted to be redistributed through the partnership in the remainder of 2022 throughout the rollout, considering that there will be a phased activation of up to 1,000 restaurants. In a full year of 1,000 restaurants supplying, the forecasted projection is 12 million meals redistributed.
