Fare Share - reducing food waste

Nestlé continually seeks to improve its customer forecasting as the most important step in reducing food waste. For any surplus produced, Nestlé UK works with national charity FareShare (www.fareshare.org.uk), to redistribute this quality food to disadvantaged people, or to dispose of non-edible food in an environmentally responsible manner. Nestlé UK began working with FareShare in 2005, as part of an ambition to raise greater awareness of food waste and reduce food waste along its product value chain. Nestlé Ireland works in a similar way with charity, Crosscare.

As well as providing quality edible surplus food to FareShare, Nestlé supports the charity by:

• Providing food and logistics assistance including seconding a senior logistics expert, to ensure the charity can manage an increased flow of food through the business facing arm of FareShare, FareShare 1st.
• Helping our food industry peers understand how they can benefit from working with FareShare.
• Supporting FareShare’s Eat Well Live Well programme, to educate vulnerable people about nutrition.

FareShare's management systems and compliance with food safety & handling regulations means that they offer a safe and efficient route for Nestlé's edible surplus. Through this collaboration, Nestlé increased its social value and reduced its environmental impact, as the food waste going to a landfill was reduced and is now going to help people who are battling hunger first. This surplus management process put in place represents best practice, not only because of the extent to which it is intertwined into day to day operations, but also because it sets the bar for identifying surplus stock as early as possible in its life to help ensure that the maximum redistribution is done. 

In the first year alone, Nestlé’s surplus stock entering landfill decreased from 100% (2005) to just 5% (2006).