Deeside based Iceland redistributes over 3.5 million meals to local communities

Deeside-based Iceland Foods has saved over 1,500 tonnes of food from going to waste by redistributing it to local communities through its partnership with food-sharing app Olio.

Since July 2022, Iceland has ramped up its efforts to combat food waste and redistribute meals.

To date, the supermarket has saved 3.5 million meals, equivalent to 1,518 tonnes of food.

Over the festive period, the company and Olio together redistributed 100 tonnes of food, equating to 263,524 meals alone.

The company’s commitment to preventing food waste means that no unsold food goes to landfill.

Instead, Iceland offers surplus food free of charge to store colleagues, converts it into animal feed, or, as a last resort, produces electricity and compost through anaerobic digestion.

Richard Walker, executive chairman of Iceland Foods, said: “As part of Iceland’s commitment to Doing it Right, we are dedicated to doing our part to fight food waste.”

“We are thankful to be able to work with partners such as Olio to support local communities with food that otherwise would have gone to waste.”

“We have committed to reducing food and drink waste by 50% by 2030, and it is great to see we are on track to achieve our goals, as taking action against food waste remains one of our top priorities.”

Iceland Foods and Olio’s joint efforts have saved an estimated 2,190,125kg worth of CO2 emissions.

Together they have donated 594,377 kg worth of edible food, feeding 50,063 families.

Tessa Clarke, co-founder and CEO of Olio, expressed gratitude for Iceland’s partnership: “We couldn’t be prouder to be working alongside Iceland’s 950+ stores to fight food waste and feed communities across the UK – especially while the rising cost of living means so many are going hungry.”

“It’s thanks to partners like Iceland that we’re able to take meaningful action on food waste on such a large scale, and we’re really grateful for their support. We’d love to see more businesses following Iceland’s example and committing to zero edible food waste across their operations.”

The supermarket is on track to redistribute over 4 million meals to local communities by the end of the financial year.

Iceland Foods’ efforts to combat food waste are part of a wider movement to address the UK’s food waste crisis.

The country generates 9.5 million tonnes of food waste each year, according to the government’s waste advisory body Wrap.