Alliance Food Sourcing collaboration hopes to provide 30mn meals a year by 2028
M&S has joined an industry-first coalition to support families who are experiencing food poverty in the UK by turning surplus food from supply chains into millions of meals for families who need them most.
Through Alliance Food Sourcing (AFS) – a collaboration between retailers, suppliers and charities created as part of the Coronation Food Project – businesses are working together to prevent good food from going to waste and get it to communities facing hunger.
The move comes as figures indicate that around 11 million people in the UK experience food insecurity, including three million children.
Through AFS, surplus food that would otherwise go unused, including ingredients with defective packaging or unused production capacity, is rescued and repurposed into meals at scale. Because the food is recovered directly from supply chains, it can be redistributed more efficiently and with a longer shelf life, helping charities access a more predictable and regular supply of food.
As part of the work, M&S has partnered with 2 Sisters Food Group to produce more than 1.5mn pizzas and ready meals, using surplus line capacity. To date, the AFS coalition has provided over 10mn meals and has an ambition to deliver 30mn meals a year by 2028, by bringing more food businesses into the partnership.
M&S is asking its customers to play their part too. From 27 April to 3 May, customers across all M&S Food stores will be able to round up their transaction at checkout.
Every £1 donated will help provide five meals, with all funds going to FareShare and The Felix Project, which together support more than 8,000 frontline charities and community groups across the UK.
Donations will support the sourcing and redistribution of surplus food identified by AFS, helping children receive hot meals during school holidays and enabling people experiencing loneliness to connect with others over shared meals in their communities.
Alex Freudmann, managing director of Food at M&S, said: “Alliance Food Sourcing shows what can happen when industry works together to stop good food going to waste and get it to families who need it most. We’re incredibly grateful to our customers for supporting this in our stores, and we’ll continue working with AFS to find new ways to scale this impact.”
Charlotte Hill, CEO of The Felix Project and FareShare, said: “Together, The Felix Project and FareShare already support 1.5mn people, yet we know millions more need help. This campaign shows the power of collaboration – helping us rescue more food, innovate at scale and support more communities across the UK.”
