Food redistribution up, but still work to do

The amount of food saved from becoming waste continues to rise significantly.

The latest figures for surplus food redistribution in the UK have shown that the amount of food saved from becoming waste continues to rise significantly.

Against a backdrop of rising food prices and impacts on the supply chain, the collective efforts of the UK’s retailers, food manufacturers, hospitality and foodservice businesses and voluntary sector have still managed an impressive 16% increase in surplus food redistribution in 2021.

In that year alone, more than 106,000 tonnes of surplus food, the equivalent of 253m meals, were redistributed via charitable and commercial outlets with a value of more than £330m. In 2021, charities handled six times more surplus food than in 2015.

However, climate action organtisation WRAP, which monitors UK surplus food as part of its food waste prevention work, warns that each year nearly 200,000 tonnes of perfectly good food still goes to waste in the supply chain.

The hospitality and foodservice sector continues to increase the tonnage of surplus food it redistributes. The types of food redistributed remain similar, with the amount of fresh meat, fish, drinks and ambient food doubling between 2019 and 2021, while fresh produce, dairy, chilled, pre-prepared and frozen food all fell in 2021, with bakery and chilled-prepared foods now lower than in 2019.

“While we welcome the increased amount of food being redistributed in the UK, we know there is a huge amount of good food – 200,000 tonnes of it every year – that could be feeding people," says Catherine David, director of collaboration and change at WRAP. "Wasting food also feeds climate change, as all the resources taken to produce the food are thrown in the bin with it. We urge all food businesses and their suppliers to adopt our guidance on redistribution as a priority and help more food get to the people who need it. The surplus food is there, and there is so much more that could be saved at this difficult time for UK families.” 

Redistribution has more than tripled since WRAP first reported figures in 2015. An estimated 426,000 tonnes of surplus food worth more than £1.3bn has been saved from wastage - the equivalent of more than 1bn meals in six years.


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