Sainsbury’s partners with Neighbourly to support food donations
Sainsbury’s has partnered with Neighbourly to donate food surplus to communities across the UK.
The partnership will connect individual Sainsbury’s stores to charities and community groups, who will ensure that the food is put to good use in the local area, helping to tackle food waste while supporting a wide range of community initiatives.
Through Neighbourly, Sainsbury’s will have access to over 17,000 local charities and community groups including homeless centres, schools, breakfast clubs, community centres, community fridges, community cafes, night shelters, refuges, churches, and hospices. Selected charity partners will coordinate a daily collection service from their local Sainsbury’s store where both ambient and fresh grocery items with a valid best before date will be donated to them.
Following a successful trial, the scheme is now being rolled out across all Sainsbury’s supermarkets with all locations expected to be taking part by the end of the year.
Sainsbury’s has donated food to charities and community groups since 1998, with the recent priority being providing support where needed during the pandemic. With a third of all food produced for human consumption being wasted globally on an annual basis, Sainsbury’s has pledged to reduce its food waste by 50% by 2030 – and the partnership with Neighbourly is a crucial step in achieving this.
Steve Butterworth, CEO of Neighbourly, said: “Getting surplus food to community causes is a win-win: making sure unsold food is put to the best possible use while combatting the environmental impact of wasted food. Sainsbury’s is genuinely committed to local action, and we’re pleased to be scaling up our partnership to help forge strong community collaboration between stores and their neighbourhood charity partners.”
Ruth Cranston, Group Head of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability for Sainsbury’s commented: “We’re committed to reducing food waste and we’re really excited to be working with Neighbourly to help us with our mission.”
