A new socio-economic impact report claims that collecting food that would otherwise go to waste and redistributing it to good causes, could save the British economy approximately £51 million (US$66.5mn) every year. And, if charities such as FareShare could scale up operations, these savings could sky-rocket to an estimated £500 million. The Wasted Opportunity Report, carried out by NEF Consulting, evaluates the economic and social value of redistributed surplus food, as well as the current and potential cost avoided by the UK public sector as a result of the charity’s work.

The report finds that by collecting food that would otherwise go to waste and redistributing it to charities and community groups, FareShare creates approximately £50.9 million of social-economic impact each year.

This is made up of £6.9 million in social value to the beneficiaries themselves and £44 million in savings to the State.

The implication of this calculation is that in the case that FareShare and other charities in the food redistribution sector were able to scale up their operational capacity in order to handle 50 percent of the surplus food available in the UK supply chain, the value back to the State could be as much as £500 million per year.

FareShare is UK’s largest charity fighting hunger and food waste. It redistributes good quality surplus food from the supply chain and delivers it to almost 10,000 charities and community groups, including homeless hostels, children’s breakfast clubs, domestic violence refuges and community cafes.

 
In FareShare’s Annual Report, the charity says that in 2017-2018 it redistributed 17,000 tons of in-date, good to eat surplus food, enough to create almost 37 million meals. This surplus food is worth £30 million per year in cash savings to the charitable sector and means charities can spend more delivering their frontline services.

The report follows the announcement by UK Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Michael Gove, who recently spoke about a £15 million pilot project that aims to make it as cost effective for the food industry to redistribute their surplus to charities as it is for them to dispose of it as waste. FareShare is working closely with Government to support the development of the project.

 
The charity is also launching a new campaign: Good Food Does Good, to encourage more businesses to utilize their surplus in a positive way by demonstrating the difference the food makes to the charities and individuals who receive it.

 
“We have always known food is a catalyst for good and now we are able to evidence it. A balanced, nutritious diet provides obvious health benefits, but sharing a meal also helps alleviate loneliness and reduces the number of times an isolated person may, for example, book a GP appointment just so they have someone to talk to,” says FareShare Chief Executive, Lindsay Boswell.

“The costs avoided by the State by charities serving up nutritious meals with FareShare food is worth a staggering £51 million every year, and that’s with us accessing just five percent of the surplus food available. Imagine what we could do if we could get more of it.”  
 

“We want to be clear. The food we redistribute is in date and good quality, just like the food you’d eat at home. That’s why we’re also launching our Good Food Does Good campaign, to show off our incredible fresh food and to celebrate the amazing businesses who are already giving us their surplus.”

 
Every year at least 270,000 tons of good food is wasted in UK food production. This is partly because for food manufacturers, processors and packers it can be more expensive to redistribute good quality surplus food to charities than send it to other processes of disposal.

The publication of the Wasted Opportunity Report in the UK closely follows a new US government food waste agreement aimed at improving communication across federal agencies attempting to better educate Americans on the importance of reducing food loss and waste.