Commercial team help to tackle food waste and hunger

12 April 2017

2 Sisters’ Tesco commercial team joined forces with FareShare West Midlands to help redistribute surplus food to frontline charities and community groups in the local community.

The team from Britain’s biggest food manufacturer joined other volunteers for the morning to sort donations at the warehouse and deliver food to a selection of the 150 frontline charities that receive food from FareShare West Midlands, ranging from homeless shelters to holiday clubs that feed disadvantaged children.

The UK-wide charity uses food as the catalyst for change. FareShare provide food to charities that cook nutritious meals to encourage vulnerable people to visit their centres, where they can then access additional support services to help them get back on their feet.

Rowan West-Henzell, a commercial manager at FareShare said: “We believe no edible food should go to waste. It was fantastic to have the help of the 2 Sisters team today.”

“With support from volunteers like them and surplus food from the major retailers and manufacturers, we’re able to provide nutritious meals for those in need throughout the West Midlands and UK-wide.”

“It’s only when volunteers come and see what we do and get involved, that it really hits home.”

THE 2 SISTERS TEAM LED BY MUSHTAQUE: from left, Rowan West-Henzell (FareShare), Mark Beasley, Jonathan Wheeler, Bimal Patel, Mushtaque Ahmed and Mandy Hawkes (FareShare).

Mushtaque Ahmed, 2 Sisters commercial sales executive, said: “The morning was very thought provoking. For me it was the realization that there are families and children on our door step that struggle to afford a nutritious meal.”

"I was really impressed by the volunteers and the quality of the surplus food. It was great to be able to support FareShare and help redistribute food that could otherwise end up in landfill.”

Liz Plumb, development manager at the new 2 Sisters Derby site added: “It was a brilliant experience and it was great to go out in the van and see for ourselves where their food is going and what a huge difference it makes. I’m really keen to volunteer again and encourage others to get involved.”

2 SISTERS PREPARE FOR THE VAN DELIVERIES: from left, Olivia Russell, Bimal Patel, Michael Sockett, Liz Plumb and Mark Beasley.

Interesting facts:

Last month FareShare West Midlands celebrated their tenth anniversary of fighting hunger and food waste. During this period they have provided enough food for 10 million meals for people in need.

FareShare West Midlands is one of FareShare’s 20 Regional Centres located across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In 2016, the FareShare network redistributed over 12,000 tonnes of surplus food to 5,500 frontline charities, providing almost 26 million meals for vulnerable people.

Since 2015, 2 Sisters has provided over seven tonnes of its surplus stock to various FareShare Regional Centres, enabling them to provide over 18,000 meals to people in need across the UK.

For more information about FareShare visit their website at: http://www.fareshare.org.uk/

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