Tesco Ireland has announced that it will be donating surplus food to local groups across the country this Christmas Eve.
Working with start-up company FoodCloud, the retailer says that it is trying to match as many of its 149 stores with groups of volunteers who can use or distribute the goods, to ensure that no food goes to waste.
"We all know and recognise that Christmas can be a really tough time for some people and we want to help as many people in need as possible," said Christine Heffernan, director of corporate affairs at Tesco Ireland.
"Last year we donated really good quality products on Christmas Eve including Christmas Turkeys, fresh fruit and vegetables that we know made a positive difference to those in need," she added.
"This year we’re committed to ensuring that all of our surplus food will be available for collection on Christmas Eve and our 260 local good causes are welcome to collect from their local Tesco store."
Food Waste
This scheme is part of Tesco Ireland's 'No Time For Waste' initiative, which aims to minimise food waste and increase surplus food donations at Tesco stores across the country.
The retailer says that it donates, on average, the equivalent of over 40,000 meals every week.
Recently, the company launched a new campaign, 'The Community Chill', which provides funding for local charities to buy fridges and freezers, so they can receive more surplus food donations to help people in need.
Tesco Ireland has committed that no surplus food suitable for human consumption will go to waste in its stores by 2020, and in September, it became the first retailer in Ireland to publish its food waste data, as part of Tesco's global food waste commitments.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
