Asda has reached a major milestone after providing the equivalent of 10 million surplus meals to charities across the UK, with over 340,000 meals donated throughout Northern Ireland.
With families struggling due to the cost of living crisis, the partnership with charity FareShare is more important than ever, with products such as bread, bakery items, fruit, vegetables and eggs which cannot be sold in store due to shorter sell-by or use-by dates, given to local charities and community groups.
Asda colleagues in all supermarkets and superstores across Northern Ireland collect the items for local charities who are part of the FareShare Go network in the UK. Those charities collect from the store up to five times a week and distribute to people in their local communities who need it most.
One of those groups who benefit is the North Down Community Works who aims to help those experiencing food insecurity in the local community.
North Down Community Works runs a range of projects including a community fridge, frozen meal service and social supermarket to support those in need. The team collects food every week through FareShare Go, including Asda Dundonald and Asda Newtownards, along with regular deliveries from FareShare Northern Ireland.
Tracy McVeigh from North Down Community Works, said: “Over the past year, there has been a massive increase in demand for the food we provide, and we expect that to continue as more people struggle.
“We collect food through FareShare, cook it down and give it out as frozen meals. We’re giving out around 1,200 meals a month at the minute through this service. Receiving regular food donations from FareShare means that we can feed local people and without this support, we couldn’t do our frozen meal service or community fridge.”
Asda has increased the amount of food it provides through FareShare by 18% in the past year. The supermarket is also working with its suppliers to help distribute food which would not be able to be sold in store, with a £1.4m investment to help pay for additional costs, such as labour and transport, a move it is hoped will lead to a further 10 million meals being redistributed.
Asda Zero Waste Senior Manager, Karen Todd, said: “To reach such a big milestone in just four years is a fantastic achievement and we are extremely proud of all the hard work our colleagues have put in to get this far to help those in our local communities.
“The food we provide is even more important during a cost of living crisis and we will always work with FareShare and our other charity partners to donate as much as possible and do all we can to help.”
Lindsay Boswell CBE, Chief Executive at FareShare said: “The cost of living crisis is driving millions of people into food poverty. Demand for good-to-eat surplus food that we receive from supermarkets like Asda has never been higher. We are incredibly grateful to Asda for continuing to support FareShare, during these difficult times. Their committed support ensures that good food goes to people who need it, rather than going to waste.”
For more information about the FareShare Go in-store surplus scheme, click here.