By no means a household name, FareShare have been quietly and effectively fighting hunger and tackling food waste for well over 20 years.

FareShare collects surplus in-date products from the food industry (supermarkets, producers) and redistributes this to partner charities working at the front line, including food banks, homeless hostels, women’s refuges and breakfast clubs.

In doing so they’re aiming to tackle the huge issue of food waste and hunger. A population the size of London struggles to afford to eat on a daily basis (around 8.4 million people), yet around 270,000 tonnes of surplus food from the UK food and drink industry is going to waste. This is perfectly good food which owing to overproduction, labeling errors or short shelf-life is seen as surplus by supermarkets and producers, but could make 650 million meals a year!

They work with more than 2,500 charities and last year distributed more than 9,000 tonnes of food - enough to feed 212,000 people.

Their model is lean, with around 40 full-time staff and 500 volunteers working across 20 regional centres. Volunteers gain experience working in food distribution and learn on-the-job skills with many eventually going on to secure permanent roles as warehouse supervisors and van or fork-lift drivers elsewhere.

Why we like FareShare:

• A “simple” solution to the huge problems of food waste and hunger.
• A “neat” solution – turning what was destined for waste into meals for the vulnerable.
• Allows partner charities to focus on their beneficiaries and not worry about rising food costs.
• Huge opportunities for growth and to reach more people – still only dealing with 3% of food waste.
• Excellent by-product of their operations in helping volunteers into employment. 

Find out more about FareShare on their website.

VIdeo and Image: FareShare