Marks & Spencer has officially announced its involvement with a new Neighbourly surplus food initiative letting people collect directly from stores, as revealed by The Grocer last month.
M&S is the first retailer to trial the new redistribution scheme, called Surplus Saviours, which will allow individuals to collect donations of unsold food from directly from stores for the first time.
The move, which stands to significantly increase the amount of meals redistributed in local communities, builds on Neighbourly’s work with retail partners including M&S, Lidl, Aldi and Sainsbury’s to distribute surplus food from stores to charities and community causes.
The move comes alongside an update to the Food Standards Agency’s charity food collection guidance to align with consumer rules, a move Neighbourly has successfully championed, in partnership with Cornwall Council.
M&S said the new initiative would be provided by its stores that did not currently have a regular charity partner. It said it would significantly increase the amount of fresh surplus food reaching those who needed it most.
The new programme is also rolling out to an additional 50 M&S stores across the UK.
“Since launching our partnership with Neighbourly in 2015, we’ve redistributed the equivalent of 100 million delicious meals for people and communities in need across the UK from surplus food from our stores,” said M&S Food head of sustainability Lucinda Langton.
“This initiative not only helps tackle food waste and supports us in reaching our ‘Plan A’ goals, but also makes a real difference to those who need it most.
“None of this would be possible without the dedication of our incredible store colleagues, whose commitment and passion has already helped over 4.7 million people and will continue to provide even more support with the expansion of the individual collector programme.”
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