Iceland Foods has revealed it has already passed its target to redistribute three million meals to local communities instead of dumping unsold products into landfill. The supermarket chain says it has given out over 3.5 million meals since January 2022 to beat its target of redistributing three million meals by the end of the financial year, while it has also reached the milestone of redistributing one million meals in partnership with food sharing app Olio.
Iceland says that in the two weeks over Christmas, it redistributed over 100 tonnes of food, equivalent to over 250,000 meals. It said it does not send any unsold food to landfill sites but instead aims to put to good use in the community.
Since July 2022, Iceland has accelerated its efforts to fight food waste with the help of food sharing app Olio. In total so far, Iceland has saved up to 1,518 tonnes worth of food – weighing the equivalent to seven blue whales or 125 double-decker buses - and is on track to redistribute over four million meals to local communities by the end of the financial year.
Richard Walker, executive chairman, Iceland Foods said: “As part of Iceland’s commitment to Doing it Right, we are dedicated to doing our part to fight food waste. We are thankful to be able to work with partners such as Olio to support local communities with food that otherwise would have gone to waste.
"We have committed to reducing food and drink waste by 50% by 2030, and it is great to see we are on track to achieve our goals, as taking action against food waste remains one of our top priorities.”
Tessa Clarke, co-founder and CEO of Olio, said: “We couldn't be prouder to be working alongside Iceland's 950-plus stores to fight food waste and feed communities across the UK - especially while the rising cost of living means so many are going hungry.
"It's thanks to partners like Iceland that we're able to take meaningful action on food waste on such a large scale, and we're really grateful for their support. We'd love to see more businesses following Iceland's example and committing to zero edible food waste across their operations."
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Since joining forces, Iceland and Olio have donated 594,377 kg worth of edible food to feed 50,063 families. They also report saving over 2,190,125kg worth of CO2 emissions.
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