By September, all of Aldi’s 830 stores in the UK will be donating surplus food directly to charity.
On Tuesday, the supermarket chain announced it is continuing its partnership with community engagement platform, Neighbourly, after a successful trial run that saw a 50 percent increase in food being donated at each store that participated.
Last year, Aldi gave two million meals to charity and believes the potential is there to do more, with Neighbourly’s assistance.
“The results of the trial are even better than what we had hoped for,” says Fritz Walleczek, managing director of corporate responsibility at Aldi UK. “Working directly with charities has not only enabled us to increase the amount of food we donate, but also increase the types of products we are able to share.
“Our colleagues have also enjoyed developing links with charities that do such good work within their own community, and we’re looking forward to seeing the results as we pair up all of our stores in the coming months.”
That trial, which took place in 24 stores, involved the collection of surplus foods and perishable products — such as fresh fruit and veg and baked goods — as well as non-perishable items, five days a week. Aldi says it also has donated unsold flowers for the first time, which have been used by some charities to teach new floristry skills to local people.
“We are delighted to be partnering with Aldi on this programme and to help them realise their ambition to benefit those communities local to each and every one of their stores across the UK,” says Steve Butterworth, chief executive at Neighbourly. “Food surplus is a challenge Aldi is committed to playing its part to address. This approach is critical to ensure surplus food finds its way easily to the good causes supporting those communities that need it most.”
Aldi says it has not sent any waste to landfill since 2014 and also says it will reduce operational food waste by 50 percent by 2030 as part of the Friends of Champions 12.3 network.
