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UK Supermarkets Unite to Tackle Hunger in Response to King Charles' Challenge

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

Four leading UK supermarkets, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, and Waitrose, have launched a joint campaign, Let's Make A Meal Of It, to address food poverty and hunger across the country. The initiative comes in response to a challenge set by King Charles on his 75th birthday in 2023, where he called on the food industry to do more to bridge the gap between food waste and hunger. The campaign will encourage customers to donate to the charity FareShare by rounding up their bills in-store or online, with all proceeds going towards providing meals for those in need.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Let's Make A Meal Of It campaign is a response to King Charles' challenge to tackle food poverty and hunger in the UK.
  • The campaign will run for up to two weeks, with all proceeds going to FareShare, a food redistribution charity that works with 8,000 charities and community groups across the UK.
  • The supermarkets aim to provide five meals for people facing hunger for every £1 raised, by sourcing and redistributing surplus food.
  • The campaign will benefit various groups, including children receiving hot meals at youth clubs during school holidays and people experiencing loneliness in community settings.
  • A new group, Alliance Food Sourcing, is working to reduce food waste in the UK by focusing on food discarded before it reaches shops, such as unused ingredients and items with damaged packaging.
  • Alliance Food Sourcing plans to repurpose food waste into products like soups, pasta sauce, and biscuits to support community kitchens and reduce food poverty.

Statistics:

  • 4.6 million tonnes of food are wasted in the UK every year.
  • The campaign aims to provide five meals for people facing hunger for every £1 raised.
  • FareShare works with 8,000 charities and community groups across the UK.
  • The Let's Make A Meal Of It campaign is set to run in Waitrose and Morrisons online, and in Tesco and Sainsbury's online and in stores.

Sources:

  • "King Charles calls on food industry to help close food waste and hunger gap". [BBC News](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-64792793)
  • "Supermarkets join forces to reduce food waste and help those in need". [The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/oct/12/supermarkets-launch-joint-campaign-to-reduce-food-waste-and-help-those-in-need)
  • "Morrisons boss Rami Baitieh: 'We must eradicate food waste'". [Sky News](https://news.sky.com/story/morrisons-boss-rami-baitieh-we-must-eradicate-food-waste-12727540)

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