Spar wholesaler James Hall has rolled out a newly designed food donation bin across its company-owned stores.
The branded stands aim to attract customers’ attention and promote local food banks in need.
The initiative has seen its Spar stores raise nearly £20,000 in food donations for food banks so far, with one store gathering 240 tins of peas and tinned tomatoes in just one day.
Since being rolled out across stores in July, more than 100 stores across the north of England have presented the new food collection points, with some stores running active sells at the till to engage customers.
But it recently offered the initiative to independent Spar retailers too, with orders for the bins currently being taken.
“The demand on local food banks increased dramatically during lockdown and although many retailers were collecting food donations before Covid-19, we wanted to create a coherent, branded stand to catch customers’ eyes and promote local food banks in need,” said Tomas Garliauskas, CSR project co-ordinator at James Hall.
“The branded food bank collection points help Spar retailers promote the fantastic work our company-owned stores and independent Spar retailers have been doing in supporting local people.”
While retailers and company-owned stores were supporting food banks before the branded collection points were designed, they were using variations of dump bins, crates and trays.
“This initiative creates a streamlined, eye-catching design for customers to see and be clear of what we are collecting and who for,” Garliauskas added.
“Corporate social responsibility is incredibly important to James Hall, to ensure that we are a responsible retailer, and to enable our network of independent Spar retailers to access effective sustainability initiatives.
“We work to incorporate CSR into our daily processes and aim to reduce post-purchase waste, reduce our overall carbon footprint and ensure that Spar stores continue to support local communities across the north of England.”
Donations to the food banks can consist of anything from tinned fruit & vegetables, toilet roll and toiletries, baby products and petfood, cereals and soups, long-life milk and condiments.
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