Food redistribution platform Neighbourly has surpassed the landmark of 200 million meals distributed to charities and community causes with the help of retailers including Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Lidl and M&S.
The Bristol-based company has doubled the total redistributed from 100 million in the past two years alone, which it said was testament to the commitment of businesses to addressing the joint challenges of surplus and food insecurity.
Neighbourly launched in 2015 and became one of the UK’s first B Corps. It connects stores with local charities, community centres, food banks, schools and other community groups to redistribute surplus food daily.
The scheme supports the efforts of thousands of store teams across the country and has avoided a claimed 320,000 tonnes of CO2 from food waste and delivered a financial value of over £3.4m into local communities.
“To reach 200 million meals redistributed across the UK is an incredible achievement for the business, our corporate partners, and the fantastic charities and community causes within the network,” said Neighbourly CEO Steve Butterworth.
“Yet food insecurity remains widespread, good food continues to be wasted, and the effects of climate change make reducing food waste all the more critical.
“We aim to further grow our food redistribution programme, adding more donor businesses and recipient groups to our nationwide food recovery network. We’re also calling for key policy changes that could facilitate redistribution on an even greater scale, helping us in our mission to create £1bn in positive impact for communities by 2025.”
M&S Food MD Alex Freudmann said: “Doing the right thing for the people and communities we serve has always been important to M&S, and that’s one of the reasons we launched our partnership with Neighbourly back in 2015.
“Over the past nine years, Neighbourly has enabled our stores to develop long-lasting relationships with charities at the heart of their community – not only through food donations but also volunteering and fundraising. I want to thank our incredible store colleagues and local causes for their ongoing efforts to make this scheme such a success.”
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