• In 1994, alongside Crisis, we were the founding members of Fareshare
• In 2013 we were the first retailer to send zero waste from our operations to land fill
• In 2016 we were the first major grocery retailer to phase out multi-buy deals to ensure customers only purchase what they need and reduce waste in their homes. We also trialed largescale food waste initiatives to change customer behaviour through our Waste Less Save More campaign
• In 2017 we supported the roll out of the first UK wide community fridge network

Food waste is a huge problem with 1.3 billion tonnes of food wasted globally - this is one third of all food produced for human consumption (Source: World Resources Institute).

We are passionate about doing more, which is why we have pledged to reduce our food waste by 50% by 2030. Our full year results on anaerobic digestion showed that we have reduced food waste by 16% and that we’re ahead of our required trajectory to meet our target. Our focus last year saw a 19% increase in human redistribution through our food donation partnerships and a 5% increase in animal feed redistribution.

In recent months, we’ve been working hard to build on this fantastic work and improve our current food donation programme. We are delighted to have partnered with Neighbourly to manage our back of store food donation programme, helping to connect Sainsbury’s stores with local partners who will redistribute food to those in need.

Neighbourly is home to a network of over 17,000 charities, schools and community groups across the UK and Ireland. By matching a Sainsbury’s store with a donation partner, Neighbourly ensures that any surplus food gets directed to the people who need it most.

Charity partners will coordinate a daily collection service from their Sainsbury’s store where foods with a valid best before date will donated to them. Products will include both ambient and fresh grocery items. Donation partners will be supporting a wide range of local causes including homeless centres, schools, breakfast clubs, community centres, community fridges, community cafes, night shelters, refuges, churches, and hospices.

The roll out of Neighbourly has already begun, following a successful trial, and will be used by the whole supermarket estate by the end of the year.

We have been donating food to charities and community groups since 1998 and recently our key priority has been to support those most vulnerable in society during the pandemic. To relieve the huge amount of pressure on foodbanks, charities, and community groups at the start of the pandemic, we made a £3 million commitment to FareShare. During this time, Sainsbury’s also funded and supported distribution of over 24 million meals, via 3,945 unique charities.

Ruth Cranston, Group Head of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, said: “We’re delighted to have partnered with Neighbourly to ensure we’re supporting people in our local communities through donations of surplus food from our stores. We’re committed to reducing food waste and we’re really excited to be working with Neighbourly to help us with our mission.”

Steve Butterworth, CEO of Neighbourly, said: “Getting surplus food to community causes is a win-win: making sure unsold food is put to the best possible use while combatting the environmental impact of wasted food. Sainsbury’s is genuinely committed to local action, and we’re pleased to be scaling up our partnership to help forge strong community collaboration between stores and their neighbourhood charity partners.”

If you are a charity or community group and would like to work with one of our stores to help redistribute food, please get in touch via [email protected]

Sainsbury’s is passionate about continuing to make a positive impact on communities, while reducing the amount of food we waste: Better for the Planet, and Better for Everyone.