Online supermarket Ocado has announced a new partnershop with Twycross Zoo to help feed its animals and reduce food waste.
According to the food shopping site, the animals are now receiving 1,200 kgs of free Ocado food products - such as meat, fruit and vegetables - each week.
The online supermarket currently ensures that the mojority of its food is not wasted through its pioneering high-tech systems.
However, with some product packaging getting damaged, or being returned by customers, it will now be delivered directly from its customer fulfilment centre in Dordon, Warwickshire, to the zookeepers at Twycross three times a week.
Twycross Zoo is home to around 150 species of animals.
Suzanne Westlake, head of corporate social responsibility at Ocado, said: “Our special technology systems ensure that we produce less than 0.01 per cent of food waste, but it’s fantastic to find a partner in Twycross Zoo to use what little we do create. I especially look forward to seeing the monkeys enjoy fruit that’s been returned from customers, but is still fresh and safe for animal consumption."
Ocado will continue to grow this, and other partnerships, in its efforts to avoid sending any food waste to landfill, she explained.
Anna Westbury, team leader at Twycross Zoo, added: “Our animals need hundreds of tonnes of forage, fruit, vegetables and meat per year, and that comes with quite a price tag. The agreement we have with Ocado doesn’t just help keep the animals well fed, it means we can spend the money we save on priority conservation and education projects.”
In other news, Ocado is seeking to recruit 300 new personal shoppers to receive, pack and load customers' orders using technical systems at the Dordon fulfilment centre.
It currently employs 900 staff, but the online supermarket is aiming to increase this to 1,500 by the end of 2014.
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