Brakes partners with Fareshare to tackle food waste

Food which has passed Brakes exacting minimum shelf life, but is still 'in date', is to be distributed to over 30,000 vulnerable people across 600 charities and organisations around the UK per month. As FareShare was in need of fresh meat and vegetables, Brakes is supplying healthy food that is easy and quick to prepare, from pre-prepared vegetables, to portion controlled desserts and chilled meat. This food would have historically gone to landfill, releasing harmful methane gasses and costing the company thousands of pounds per annum in disposal costs. Since March, when the initiative went live, Brakes has donated around 300,000 meals and expects to grow this total to one million meals by 2011. James Armitage, marketing director at Brakes said: "Like all food service companies, we face a perennial problem of what to do with fit-for-purpose foods which have exceeded their minimum shelf life." Tony Lowe, chief executive officer of FareShare added: "The food provided by Brakes really makes a difference. It is exactly the kind of high quality food that our community members really need. It enables them to provide nutritious meals to their clients – vulnerable people in real need of a healthy diet."