Tag: sainsburys

WHERE’S THE UK’S FIRST ZERO WASTE SUPERMARKET?

4th Oct 16 by fb_admin

4th October 2016

gpwdjjmv_400x400Feedback’s Campaign and Research Manager Edd Colbert reflects on recent changes in the UK’s food waste landscape.


It’s been a busy few weeks for food waste in the UK, with the publication of The Evening Standard’s investigation into supermarket waste; Sainsbury’s publishing some of its food waste data; a wealth of organisations calling on the UK Government for action on waste; and a new group of companies signing up to the Courtauld Commitment. Yet what really shocked me was the fanfare of news articles celebrating what has been dubbed ‘The UK’s First Food Waste Supermarket’.

This ‘food waste supermarket’ is the latest project of The Real Junk Food Project (TRJFP). TRJFP started out as a pay-as-you-feel café serving food that would have gone to waste in Armley, Leeds. I first met Adam Smith, the project’s founder, in 2014 shortly before becoming a co-director of the project. Since leaving the project, it has grown from strength to strength and now represents an international network of anti-food waste projects.

One such project is the brilliant Fuel for Schools program in Leeds, which uses surplus food to feed hundreds of school children breakfast to combat food poverty and malnutrition. The ‘food waste supermarket’ is a warehouse in which food is stored for effective distribution; and in true TRJFP fashion, it has been opened up to be accessed by all to make sure those living in food poverty are not marginalised. Everyone is welcome to do their weekly shop and are encouraged to pay as they feel, whether that is financially or in kind. Yet as Adam told me on the phone recently, “this isn’t a supermarket, this is explicitly anti-supermarket”.

Even if we can call this warehouse a supermarket, doesn’t it seem strange that the UK’s media headlines are celebrating the fact that the UK wastes enough food to fill a supermarket?

What the UK really needs right now is its first Zero Waste Supermarket.

A zero food waste supermarket publicly measures and reports how much food it wastes in its store and distribution centre operations, as well as throughout its supply chain.

A zero food waste supermarket prioritises prevention of waste throughout its operations and supply chain. It commits to reducing food waste on farms and other stages of its supply chain, for example through the relaxation of strict cosmetic specifications that judge food on what it looks like, rather than its taste or nutritional value.

A zero food waste supermarket understands that food waste is a symptom of overproduction. It works to create fair contractual relationships with its suppliers to prevent overproduction as a result of suppliers trying to insure themselves against last minute order cancellations and unpredictable order forecasting.

A zero food waste supermarket recognises that redistribution is a short-term measure to ensure all food that is grown is eaten by people, but that ultimately it is responsible for minimising how much ‘surplus’ food it encourages to be grown, harvested, packaged, transported and sold.

A zero food waste supermarket only sends truly unavoidable food waste to management processes such as anaerobic digestion.

A zero food waste supermarket would present a challenge to all retailers to take greater action to prevent food waste and would be truly worthy of newspaper headlines.

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Evening Standard Publishes Food Waste Investigation

19th Sep 16 by fb_admin

19/09/2016

Supermarkets are under pressure to accelerate action to prevent good food going to waste as the Evening Standard launches a major investigation into food waste this week.

Sainsbury’s is the second British supermarket to publish data on the amount of food it wastes in its stores, reporting to waste 35,832 tonnes per year. Last year Tesco published its in-store data after years of campaigning pressure from Feedback, and recently CEO David Lewis called on other retailers to follow their lead.

Feedback expose food waste in supermarket bins with the Evening Standard.
Feedback expose food waste in supermarket bins with the Evening Standard.

Feedback are pleased to see that Sainsbury’s has published its food waste data for the first time today but there’s still much work to be done. Firstly, Sainsbury’s have only published data on the amount of food waste generated in their stores. Whilst this is an important first step for retailers to manage and reduce their food waste, it does not include the much more significant amount of food waste generated in the retailer’s supply chain caused by cosmetic specifications, last minute order cancellations and unpredictable forecasting. Secondly,Sainsbury’s food waste data has not been audited by a third party, unlike its rival Tesco, putting the validity of this data in question.

Edd Colbert, Campaign and Research Manager at Feedback, says “Supermarkets are beginning to feel the pressure of the global food waste movement and have no option but to change their behaviour. The first dominos have fallen with Tesco and Sainsbury’s announcements and over the next year Feedback will be monitoring each of the supermarkets closely to ensure they go beyond ambitious gestures and commit to effective long term actions to prevent food waste.”

Feedback are calling on all UK supermarkets to come clean and publicly report on how much food they waste in their operations and throughout their supply chains. These businesses already have much of this data available as they collectively report on food waste through the Courtauld Commitment, a voluntary industry initiative. This was confirmed today by an anonymous employee from one of big six in the Evening Standard:

“The truth is that every store of every retailer measures their food waste very, very accurately because metrics drives our business. If they tell you otherwise they are being less than honest.”

The Standard’s investigation has largely focused on the amount of surplus food redistributed by each of the major retailers. Sainsbury’s is reported to lead the way with 7.6% of its surplus food actually being redistributed at present whilst Tesco comes second with 4.5%. The rest of the retailers fall even shorter with scores of 3.3% or less. Morrison’s and Lidl have not disclosed any information on how much food they redistribute. This is of particular concern, as Morrison’s declared almost a year ago that it planned to redistribute all of its surplus food after Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s BBC series Hugh’s War On Waste.

Whilst a great deal of attention is being given to redistribution initiatives, it is important to highlight that the amount of food waste generated within supermarket stores is miniscule compared to that which arises in the supply chain. If supermarkets are really serious about putting an end to waste they have to start taking responsibility for the waste they cause upstream by relaxing unnecessary cosmetic specifications, improving forecast accuracy, and putting an end to unfair trading practices.

Have you read the Evening Standard’s food waste story? Do you want to join the movement and help stop good food going to waste? Then sign the food waste pledge here to find how you can get involved.

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