Tesco is under fire from charities struggling to distribute unwanted food to the homeless and hungry due to new rules requiring food collection only in the evening.
The supermarket giant has moved to a system where charities must collect surplus food, such as items nearing their best-by dates, only in the evening when stores close, rather than the following morning. The shift has left many local groups, including Food for Charities Oxford, Abingdon Community Fridge and Guildford Zero Carbon Community Fridge, struggling to meet the needs of their communities.
In a letter to Tesco, the charities warned that the new collection schedule was preventing surplus food from reaching those in need, forcing some groups to purchase food for distribution. They have also launched a petition urging Tesco to reverse the policy.
“Most of us are struggling to find volunteers to pick them up in the evening. The letter states that most of our charities do not have recipients for ‘evening food’ such as meat and sandwiches because we close before Tesco food is available. “We do not have room for freezers, or our freezers are in closed community facilities In the evening, or we don't feel happy sending solo volunteers into a building to put food in the refrigerator.”
In addition, some charities have reported that their priority access to Sunday collection slots has been compromised, putting them in competition with users of the food waste app Olio, which can include well-off families.
FareShare, the charity that oversees Tesco's waste collection, acknowledged the “change at a property level”, explaining that it allows for the donation of chilled food alongside longer-life items, something not possible with morning collections due to safety concerns with “use before”. Dates.
However, Tesco refuted claims of widespread changes, stressing that it had always encouraged the 2,700 local charities that collect food from its stores to do so in the evening rather than the morning. The supermarket also confirmed that Sunday collections are no different to any other day of the week.
Ricky Thereville, the charity's food director, highlighted the lack of warning about the change, resulting in her group spending around £50 a week on food purchases. She noted that the amount of food available for the community refrigerator system, which feeds hundreds of people, has been reduced by half. “It's a big shock for us and an increase in expenses. We can't pick up in the evening, so we'll get less food in the future,” she said. “It's difficult for charities to focus on themselves.”
Farah Rinfeli, operations manager at Lifeafterhummus in north London, expressed frustration: “It actually puts profits before people. Treating people in need of food is like throwing away rubbish.
A Tesco spokesperson responded: “We work hard to prevent food waste and donate millions of unsold meals from our stores to local charities and community groups every month. We will always prioritize local charities to receive food from FareShare, but if they are unable to collect food, we give it to groups Or we distribute it to the local community for free via the Olio food waste app to prevent food waste from going to waste.”
Olio stressed that charities have priority in obtaining collection opportunities.
FareShare added that it liaises directly with 20 Tesco distribution centers to provide food to thousands of charities across the country, with the surplus distributed at the end of the day from stores complementing the system. A FareShare spokesperson said: “Tesco has been instrumental in supporting FareShare’s mission to combat the environmental impact of food waste, ensuring good food reaches people, not waste.”
The controversy comes after revelations that thousands of tonnes of junk food that Tesco believed was being used to feed animals has instead been diverted to generate energy, significantly impacting its efforts to reduce food waste.