In 2020 Compass Group donated over 1,100 tonnes of food (two million meals) to help local communities during the pandemic and to reduce food waste.
Dominic Blakemore, chief executive, Compass Group, said: “One third of all food produced globally is wasted every year, and as the world recovers from the pandemic, the issue of food waste has never been more important.
“As the global leader in food service, we have a clear role to play in driving permanent change across our industry. We know that the greatest impact is only possible by working alongside our brilliant suppliers, partners, clients and consumers across the 45 countries in which we operate.
“Despite this last year testing us all, our teams have remained focused on reducing food waste, but we know that much more is needed to make lasting, sustainable change. That’s why, today and every day, we continue to educate our teams and customers on how they can play their part in reducing food waste as we work to achieve a more sustainable future.”
Compass Group plans to hold live cooking demonstrations sharing tips on how to cut down on food waste, speaker events and run a social media campaign #stopfoodwasteday to drive interest globally.
Compass’ achievements in the UK include:
- Working with FareShare, Compass helped to save 235 tonnes of food, enough to provide over 558,000 meals for people in need – helping to support nearly 3,000 community groups, through breakfast clubs, food banks, and hostels.
- Created Super Yummy Kitchen, an online YouTube series that allowed education around cooking, food and nutrition to continue despite lockdown, in partnership with Compass’ celebrity chefs.
- Saved over 50,000 slices of surplus bread with Toast Ale since 2017, a business turning unwanted bread into a ‘planet saving beer’, and committed to saving one million slices in the future.
- Working alongside Rubies in the Rubble, which saves surplus food and vegetable produce by turning it into jam and other condiments, saved over 500,000 berries and 879,000 apples since the partnership began in 2017.