M&S Food has donated 70m meals to local charities with long-standing food redistribution partner Neighbourly.
This year alone, over 13m meals have been donated – the highest in the partnership to date.
M&S expects the number of meals donated to soar in the weeks leading up to Christmas, with over 400,000 donated in the first week of December – an increase of 100,000 from last year.
Since the launch of the partnership in 2015, the retailer has worked with Neighbourly to redistribute surplus food from stores to more than 3,000 local charities and community organisations.
To date, the partnership has supported over 4.5m individuals including families in need, young people and those with disabilities.
The initiative, which also looks to tackle food waste in M&S stores, has prevented over 30,000 tonnes of good quality food from going to waste.
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This contributes to the supermarket’s target of 100% edible surplus food to be redistributed by 2025, as part of its ‘Plan A’ roadmap to net zero.
M&S Food managing director Alex Freudmann said: “Doing the right thing for the people and communities we serve has always been important to M&S, and that’s one of the reasons we launched our partnership with Neighbourly back in 2015.
“I’m delighted that we have surpassed the milestone of 70 million meals donated because its enabled us not only to tackle food waste in our stores but also ensure our delicious food, which is too good to waste, can support those in need when they need it most.”
Neighbourly CEO Steve Butterworth added: “The surplus scheme has gone from strength to strength over the past eight years, with the launch of new technologies that have enabled more surplus food to get out into the communities where it’s needed, building long-lasting relationships between store teams and neighbourhood charities whilst also having a tremendous positive environmental impact.
“Sadly, the cost-of-living crisis means more families than ever are relying on local good causes for food and emergency aid – particularly in the run up to Christmas, and this food is a vital resource.”
M&S has also partnered with FareShare to donate one million freshly prepared meals from its ‘Eat Well’ range in the eight weeks leading up to Christmas.
The meals will be made at 2 Sisters Food Group manufacturing sites and donated to FareShare directly from the M&S Food supply chain.
