National food redistribution charity FareShare received more surplus food than ever before last year, including a tenfold increase in fresh produce.
FareShare received 5,500 tonnes of food in all - a 30 per cent increase in just 12 months.
This rise is largely due to breakthrough partnerships with Asda and Tesco, along with the strengthening of FareShare’s relationship with Sainsbury’s.
While the increase is being celebrated as significant, the group claims the figure it receives still only represents about 1.5 per cent of the 300,000 to 400,000 tonnes of surplus food believed to be available in the UK annually.
Lindsay Boswell, CEO of FareShare, said: “The charities we support are providing a lifeline to thousands of people every day. As more people turn to them for food, they’re turning to FareShare for help.
'We can’t do it without working in partnership with the food industry. We estimate that there’s enough surplus food for another 800 million meals in the UK. We’re urgently calling on the industry to act and divert their surpluses to FareShare so we can feed more people.”
FareShare redistributed enough food for a million meals a month last year, and is taking on seven new charities every week to help meet demand.
In total, the organisation is supporting 1,296 charities and community projects, meaning 62,200 people received food from FareShare every day last year, up from 43,700 in 2012, and 36,500 in 2011.
It also helped businesses save more than 19,500 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions last year by diverting food away from landfill.
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