We meet with Government to support food redistribution

This week we met with Liz Truss, MP, Minister for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), and Rob Wilson, MP, Minister for Civil Society, to discuss with other food manufacturers and retailers how we could further support food redistribution in the UK.

Ian Bowles, our Head of Sustainability and External Affairs, said: “The Ministers were keen to hear about further steps the food industry can take to increase the redistribution of surplus food in the UK food supply chain, to support people in real social need.”

Our manufacturing sites support local food banks on a regular basis. In 2014 we signed up as a business to support the Community Shop initiative, which looks to help Britain’s poorest communities by selling surplus products at up to 70% off normal prices to those on benefits.

The Trussell Trust, which runs more than 400 food banks, estimates that just under 1 million people received food parcels at their food banks in 2013-2014, almost a threefold increase on previous years. To help address this rise, we’ll continue to support food redistribution from our sites across the country.