Surplus veg at heart of new M&S food poverty initiative

M&S is investing over £1 million in what it describes as a brand-new way of addressing food poverty, which sees food  redistributed directly from its supply chain.

Under the initiative, the retailer has created three new meals that will be distributed to families in need via FareShare as part of the Coronation Food Project, inspired by the King.

From September, M&S will be sending the specially developed products to FareShare to distribute through its national network. Developed by M&S chefs, the Vegetable Curry, Carrot & Coriander Soup and Family Sized Pizza meals use surplus ingredients from within the retailer’s existing supply chain which might otherwise go to waste, such as fresh vegetables.

The meals are nutritionally balanced to serve between two and four people, and all meals will be freshly prepared with a guarantee of four days life from the day of donation.

M&S said its close relationships with its partners allows it to redistribute not just ingredients, but time and capacity to the effort. The retailer is working with one of its biggest fresh food suppliers, 2 Sisters Food Group, to utilise capacity in its supply chain to deliver fresh, healthy and nutritious products directly to those families who need it.

The £1m investment will donate over 1.5 million freshly prepared nutritious meal servings to FareShare. This follows the donation of one million meal servings in the eight weeks leading up to Christmas last year, where in an industry first the meals were donated directly from the M&S Food supply chain.

Alex Freudmann, managing director of M&S Food, said: “Making great-quality, delicious and nutritious food is what we do at M&S Food and we’ve been inspired by the Coronation Food Project to go further to redistribute more meals than we ever have before.

“By utilising ingredients, capacity and time available within our supply chain, we’re able to donate so much more product and ultimately help more people. I’m delighted to be able to come together with our supplier partners to support FareShare throughout the year.”