Booker donates enough supplies to provide one million meals

Wholesaler Booker has redistributed enough food to provide the equivalent of one million meals to those in need, reports stated today (21).

Booker became the first wholesale organisation to redistribute food directly to FareShare’s network of charities via FareShare Go and free sharing app OLIO.

The wholesaler began its arrangement last December distributing food that would otherwise be wasted directly to a network of charities through Fareshare and Olio’s Food Waste Heroes.

Through the FareShare Go programme, Booker sites are matched with charities and community groups in the local area which collect the donated items and turn that into food parcels or hot meals for vulnerable people.

The food distributed includes a range of large catering packs, vegetables, deli and sandwich fillings, as well as smaller packs of meat, fish and fruit.

Lindsay Boswell, chief executive at Fareshare, said: “Thank you to Booker for working with Fareshare and Olio to redistribute the equivalent of one million meals.

“This food is needed now more than ever and is making a huge difference to people in need across the country.

“We’ve received lots of positive feedback from our network of charities collecting food through Booker and the colleagues in Booker branches are building strong relationships with their local community thanks to this programme.”

Catherine Marston, head of sustainability at Booker, said: “Not allowing any edible food go to waste is something that everyone at Booker is passionate about and we are proud to be the first wholesaler to work in such a collaborative way with Fareshare and Olio.

“Our food waste represents just 0.15 per cent of total food handled which is market-leading.

“We are off to a great start with this partnership and I’m really looking forward to building on this success.”