Tesco plans to donate its unsold Valentine’s Day flowers and bouquets to good causes this year as part of its ongoing war on waste.
The supermarket is working with foodredistribution charity FareShare to ensure any unsold blooms are passed on to people and groups who will enjoy them. The retailer already works with the charity on its surplus food programme, Community Food Connection, which links local charities and community groups to its stores.
Under the new initiative FareShare volunteers will visit Tesco stores after Valentine's Day to collect the flowers and deliver them to some of the 7,000 charities and community groups FareShare works with. Even though they are slightly past their sell-by date, they will still last for five more days, the supermarket stressed.
Tesco head florist Michelle Buck said: “No-one wants to see these beautiful flowers go to waste so we’re delighted that this year we’re going to find them deserving homes. We already work with FareShare to redistribute surplus food so it was the natural thing to do to work with them to give some Valentine’s joy to those who deserve it most.”
FareShare chief executive Lindsay Boswell added: 'The meals that charities make with surplus food from Tesco support thousands of vulnerable people, many of whom are struggling with food poverty, illness or loneliness.
“Flowers always lift us up, and these Tesco blooms will brighten up the tables of many charities and bring smiles to the faces to the people enjoying what might be their only hot meal of the day.”
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