In an open letter to the wider food industry, retail leaders argued that too much surplus food is still being wasted, when it could be helping to feed people
The bosses of the biggest UK supermarkets have called for more to be done to end food poverty as they warned of a worrying spike in families needing help this summer.
In an open letter to the wider food industry, CEOs and managing directors of Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, M&S and Waitrose argued that too much surplus food is still being wasted, when it could be helping to feed people at a time when the cost of living is still high.
For example, it argues that produce is still being thrown away when packaging is defective or factory production lines switch.
The letter comes as some councils have ended holiday meal voucher schemes, with the group warning that school breaks are typically the time when local food charities see more people seeking support.
Families are also continuing to struggle against rising food prices. The latest data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC)-NIQ shows food inflation is now at 2.2%.
But the group says “there is an opportunity to salvage some of the 4.6 million tonnes of food that is currently wasted across the food industry’s supply chain, before it even reaches anyone’s plates.”
They wrote: “We’re creating new partnerships and processes to solve that. Like repackaging bulk quantities or bringing raw ingredients together to make meals.
“Where packaging is defective, ingredients are salvaged and we’re focusing on food categories where the charity need is greatest – vegetables, protein and staples.”
So far, its efforts have seen two million portions of chicken a year saved and donated to charity, and over 300,000 meals from surplus pasta when machines switch between cutting different shapes.
The group are part of the Alliance Food Sourcing, which was set up in 2024 to help turn surplus food into meals for charities. It aims to provide 30 million meals a year by 2028.
Why Britain’s food industry must unite to tackle holiday hunger
You may be surprised to see some of our names side by side – there’s no doubt we work in one of the most competitive sectors in the UK. But sometimes we need to join forces to make the biggest difference. This week is one of those times.
With the summer holidays upon us, many families will be coming together across the country. But the school break is also a time when local food charities see more people seeking support, and often not knowing where their next meal will come from.
The latest statistics are shocking. Almost one in eight UK households go hungry, including 2.2 million children.
As with many complex social and environmental challenges, solutions are often only possible through collective action, bringing together different skills and achieving greater scale.
That’s why we’re united in a coalition called Alliance Food Sourcing to harness surplus factory capacity and rescue edible, surplus food – all from the UK supply chain – to get more meals to people who need it most.
Recently the government announced a new National Programme to Redistribute Surplus Food, inspired by His Majesty the King’s Coronation Food Project. It is a single, shared national plan to cut food waste and fight hunger in Britain. Its commitment is to triple charitable food redistribution in the next decade. We welcome this and are excited to see how the work of AFS can help achieve its goals.
Every day, each of us partners with a number of brilliant organisations tackling food poverty, and witness their incredible work. But still 86% of frontline charities say demand for food is only increasing.
At the same time, there is an opportunity to salvage some of the 4.6 million tonnes of food that is currently wasted across the food industry’s supply chain, before it even reaches anyone’s plates. For example, when packaging is defective or factory production lines switch.
Supermarkets have become very efficient in tackling food waste, so the amount of finished-product donations has declined too. So, as an industry, we need to invest in other ways to give charities a steadier supply of food to rely on.
Led by the food industry convener, IGD, and the UK’s largest food redistribution charity, Felix, Alliance Food Sourcing brings retailers, like us, together with manufacturers, producers and logistics providers, to identify opportunities to rescue surplus food within the UK supply chain. The problem is too big to fix by any single one of us, but with 50 of Britain’s leading food businesses already on board, we can do it together, at scale.
At the moment, this surplus is not often in a form that can be used by frontline charities. But we’re creating new partnerships and processes to solve that. Like repackaging bulk quantities or bringing raw ingredients together to make meals. Where packaging is defective, ingredients are salvaged and we’re focusing on food categories where the charity need is greatest – vegetables, protein and staples.
For example, two million portions of chicken a year have been rescued, after a relabelling and repackaging collaboration. Surplus potato and squash ‘rubble’ created during the dicing process is being recovered, contributing to an extra 40,000 meals a month for charity. And over 300,000 meals a year are being produced, just by rescuing the surplus pasta when machines switch between cutting different shapes. Over three million ready meals have been redistributed to charities by using surplus line capacity in factories, and excess pasta sauce at the end of production runs is now diverted into 7kg bags for community cafes to use.
It’s our ambition that within AFS alone we will provide 30 million meals a year by 2028. In late spring, we held a joint fundraising campaign with our customers to tackle UK hunger. The response from our shoppers was amazing. And it shows, no matter how tough times are, the British public will generously support such an important cause. The money will now be used to source fresh fruit and veg, and much-needed protein that will reach people in need this summer holiday.
We’re proud of the work that’s already been done but, as a food industry, we must turbo-charge collaboration, scale and ambition – to go further and faster in reducing food waste and using surplus food and factory capacity for good.
So, if you’re a member of the food industry, please join us to create even more opportunities to fight hunger in the UK, this summer and beyond. Even small changes in our food supply chains can make a big difference.
Simon Roberts, CEO of Sainsbury’s and President of the IGD
Gordon Gafa, Managing Director of UK Food at Tesco
Alex Freudmann, Managing Director of Food at M&S
Tom Denyard, Managing Director of Waitrose
Rami Baitiéh, CEO of Morrisons
