Central England Co-op to save 230,000 meals a year with Too Good To Go

Central England Co-op has set out to save 230,000 meals from going to waste a year via its new partnership with Too Good To Go.

The link-up with the anti-waste app will work in tandem with the society’s FareShare Midlands partnership, giving it an extra route to reduce food waste and help in its aim to be carbon neutral by 2030.

The rollout of Too Good To Go follows a six-week trial earlier this year. It has so far saved 5,599 bags of surplus stock, equating to 13,998kg CO2 emissions.

Too Good To Go app users can search for Central England Co-op stores taking part in the scheme that have unsold produce. They then purchase a ‘magic bag’ of food at risk of going to waste and collect it at an allotted time.

It also guarantees the bags of surplus stock contain at least three times the value of food paid. So if a bag costs £4, it will contain at least £12 worth of food.

“Through our partnership with FareShare Midlands we have a great process in place for the distribution of ‘best before’ products that have reached the end of their shelf life but can still be utilised by the projects FareShare supports across our communities,” said Central England Co-op head of stores Claire Koziol.

“That, however, still leaves ‘use by’ products that ultimately would have to go in the bin, as despite stores using the reduced to clear process there inevitably will still be waste. That is where Too Good To Go can really help.

“These ‘use by’ products are still high-quality items that customers want, and it is a great solution if people are able to utilise them the same day or can freeze them to use them at a later date.

“A big benefit from our point of view is that we are reducing food waste even further. We have already reduced our food waste by 40% through the redistribution project with FareShare Midlands and this will reduce it even more as we target 50% by 2025.”

Too Good To Go UK MD Paschalis Loucaides said: “I’m delighted to welcome Central England Co-op to our growing community of food waste warriors.

“Food waste accounts for 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions and by working with partners like Central England Co-op we can continue to take a huge bite out of the problem. I know our app users are going to love fighting food waste alongside them.”