This month, I was delighted to meet Ben and Daniel from FareShare South West (the region’s biggest food charity) and hear about the amazing work they are doing in the South West, directly redistributing surplus food from local growers, manufacturers, stores and distribution centres to 400 frontline charities in Devon, Cornwall and beyond.
I’d heard of FareShare as a National Charity before, but hadn’t realized that the wider FareShare network is made up of around 20 independent and regional charities, including FareShare South West!
As well as working with bigger, national retailers, FareShare South West partners with dozens of local suppliers to help them reduce their food waste and support the people that live and work in their communities.
I was encouraged to find out how they rescue both large and small volumes of food from producers, suppliers and growers across the South West, and what an impact they make to incredible local charities right here on our doorstep such as Food Banks, Breakfast School Clubs, Recovery Houses and Community Groups.
As a business coach with 25 years experience in food, travel and hospitality, I’ve always wondered how the jigsaw of surplus food (any food that is food safe but that you can’t sell to your intended customers) is dealt with, so that it can get to vulnerable people and not go to waste…
And here is the solution! The FareShare South West vans will come and collect anything surplus from you including:
- Short-dated food
- Seasonal stock
- Quality rejections
- Unfinished products
- Damaged packaging
- Packaging errors
And the best thing about it? There’s no fee!
So if you haven’t found a solution to your surplus food problem and want to support and give back to your community, the next step is to get in contact with Daniel from FareShare South West directly.
They’ll arrange collection or delivery to one of their three depots in Bristol and Plymouth, guarantee gold standard food safety and full traceability, and then redistribute it to charities and other organisations across the South West.
As Daniel said:
“Every small bag of food is vital.”
FareShare South West have made the facilitation as easy as possible for you, so contact them today. Quite simply, your surplus food can change lives.
Contact: Daniel Leite
Tel: 0117 450 5044 / 0117 456 3019
Email: donatefood@faresharesouthwest.org.uk
