Tesco supplier AMT Fruit has now provided over 500,000 meals worth of surplus fruit to food charity FareShare.
The produce company, part of the Munoz Group, has been working with FareShare since October 2015 to ensure that any citrus fruit that would otherwise be wasted is used to feed people in need.
FareShare is the UK’s largest food redistribution charity, working closely with food businesses to divert their surplus supplies to frontline charities.
Citrus can become surplus for a variety of reasons, such as variable forecasting, being out of specification on quality or having incorrect packaging.
When situations like these occur, AMT Fruit offers this fruit to FareShare so it can be put to good use. To date, this has resulted in over 200 tonnes of produce being saved from waste.
Supplying surplus product to FareShare has also helped AMT Fruit to meet its waste reduction targets in other ways. The company has decreased its UK operational waste by over 30 per cent in the last 18 months, mostly by doing more direct deliveries from Spain to Tesco depots, but 20 per cent of this waste reduction was achieved through the supplier’s FareShare donations.
Naomi Pendleton, head of technical at AMT Fruit, said:“Everyone that works at AMT Fruit is passionate about fresh produce and good nutrition. Our growers around the world put a huge amount of effort and expertise into growing their crop and it always pains us to waste perfectly useable food.
“Our partnership with FareShare means that what would otherwise be classed as waste can now turn into something positive that provides essential nutrition for the people who need it most.”
Colin Burcombe, commercial manager at FareShare, added:“We are really proud to be working with AMT Fruit to put their surplus citrus products to the best possible use. The frontline charities we support are always in need of fresh produce to provide vital nutrition to the people they support.
“Working with AMT Fruit helps us to ensure that the most vulnerable people in society are able to access good quality, nutritious food.”
