SPAR South West’s primary distributor, Appleby Westward Ltd, is making a huge impact on the fight against food waste and hunger in its trading area thanks to its partnership with FareShare South West and Gregorys Logistics. The partnership officially began at the start of 2024, but the company was already making donations of food to support the charity during the previous autumn and winter.

Between January and June this year, via the partnership Appleby Westward Ltd redistributed the equivalent of 24,400 meals*, taking its total to the equivalent of 32,000 meals. Those 32,000 meals came from 10.2 tonnes of food which was distributed via charities and community groups to 54,000 people.

With warehouses in Plymouth and Bristol, FareShare South West rescues good, surplus food from local food suppliers and delivers it to more than 380 charities, schools and community groups – from Gloucester to Cornwall. FareShare builds partnerships with various businesses to achieve its mission, such as the one with Appleby Westward Ltd and Gregorys Logistics.

In the South West, the food donated by Appleby Westward Ltd has been distributed to 241 charities and community groups, including 66 that work with children and young people, 56 that work with the homeless, 47 older people’s community groups and 11 groups that support people with mental health. In addition, across the school summer holidays Appleby Westward Ltd’s surplus food has been redistributed to more than 50 children’s activity groups, set up to support families at risk of food poverty.

Appleby Westward Ltd’s teamwork with FareShare and Gregory Logistics goes a long way towards its goal of cutting the amount of food waste that’s going to landfill by sharing surplus food and tackling local hunger.

Michal Czynienik, Trading Manager at Appleby Westward Ltd, said: “We are delighted with how well our collaboration is going. The number of equivalent meals we have been able to provide is amazing as is the impact this has had on the recipients. It is great to be able to support the local community in this way and, at the same time, reduce food waste. I am very excited about the future of the partnership and reaching our next significant milestone.”

According to The Food Foundation, 11 million people in the UK are struggling to get enough to year yet, at the same time, the UK wastes millions of tonnes of food every year. This includes food waste generated at various stages of the food supply chain, including production, processing, distribution, retail and households.

FareShare South West is a big part of the solution to this dual problem. In the first six months of this year, it distributed 867 tonnes of surplus food to 348 charities, which was enough food for more than two million meals.

FareShare South West is keen to get its message out to more SPAR distributors and is working with Appleby Westward Ltd on a case study to show other distributors how the national FareShare network can help them redistribute their surplus food to increase their social impact.

Daniel Leite, Food Sourcing Officer at FareShare South West, added: “This partnership with Appleby Westward is making a genuine difference to ordinary local people, and we’re so grateful for their commitment to reducing waste. The cost of a food shop has risen 70% since the pandemic, leaving 14 million people vulnerable to food insecurity. At the same time, the food industry wastes over 4 million tonnes of good-to-eat food every year with a catastrophic climate impact. By working in partnership, together we can make a genuine environmental and social impact.”