You may have seen the clever tagline on its banners if you’ve ever come across a Community Shop, where surplus food and other items are resold to the community.
“It’s All Good.” Indeed it is. The items sold inside those stores include shelves of perfectly good-to-eat fresh fruits and vegetables, along with a bevy of other essentials.
The Company Shop Group works with hundreds of businesses, including supermarket chains across the UK, to get food that otherwise be wasted into the hands of less fortunate families. With nearly 10 million tonnes of food going into the bin each year in this nation alone, they have a big role to play.
Among its many contributors is discount retailer Aldi. This week, the rapidly expanding discount giant just announced that it had reached a nice milestone in its partnership with Company Shop – 1,000 tonnes of food donated, or the equivalent of 2.5 million meals.
“It’s incredible to look back at the results we’ve achieved from just one year with Company Shop Group – from saving tonnes of food from going to waste to supporting thousands of families in need,” says Liz Fox, National Sustainability Director at Aldi. “We are committed to making good quality food accessible to everyone. After all, it’s a right, not a privilege. We’re very excited to see what lies ahead for the partnership as we get closer to our new goal of reducing food waste in our own operations by 90% before 2030.”
Deep impact in communities
Retailers such as Co-Op, Jack’s, M&S, Nisa, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons are all giving time and their excess food to the cause.
Company Shop’s individual Community stores and community kitchens have served more than 60,000 families and 30 million meals while saving customers £51.7 million in the 10-plus years it has been operating. And perhaps even more impressive are the 175,000 personal development programmes launched by Company Shop during that period. Some of those include how to prepare healthy meals on a budget.
The commitment with Aldi is just one piece of the puzzle but an important one.
“We are very proud of our partnership with Aldi and its commitment to helping prevent waste and support communities,” says Gary Stott, Executive Chairman of Community Shop. “The scheme has helped us deliver a significant social impact, whilst also allowing us to carry out vital work to save the planet from unnecessary waste.”
Aldi’s work with Company Shop Group stretches back about nine years. But it really took off last January when Aldi committed to a smart scheme to have surplus food whisked from its Regional Distribution Centres directly to those Community Shop stores.
“In just one year, the partnership has supported over 2,800 people through its Community Hub development programmes, which provides individuals and communities with the tools they need to live well and skills to get them back into work,” Aldi said in a statement. ” It’s also enabled over 2,100 people to attend cooking lessons at the Community Kitchen’s Cook Clubs.”
