Tesco is trialling a new system in conjunction with the UK charity FareShare, in a project that its chief executive Dave Lewis calls “potentially the biggest single step” the retailer has taken to solve the problem of food waste, The Independent reports.
The scheme involves donating excesses of food which would typically be used in anaerobic digestion energy plants, or fed to animals, to people in need.
It has been tested in over 100 outlets in Ireland, and will be initially be trialled in ten UK Tesco supermarkets. Dave Lewis says he hopes similar projects can be effected through the retailer's stores internationally in the future, commenting that it is “a solution that could work for all our stores.”
In the short-term, Tesco will donate more than 80 tonnes of food on a daily basis.
Lewis added, “One of the big benefits of the size of the business is that when we do something that is a positive step forward, it can be a big positive step forward [. . . ] This is a brand that can build more belief and trust and we have to do that through the things we do. Our behaviour determines what people think of our brand."
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Peter Donnelly.
