A partnership Central England Co-op and food saving app Too Good To Go has now saved over 100,000 meals from going to waste.
The scheme, which allows the retail society’s customers and members to purchase bags of discounted food which would otherwise go to waste, is in operation across the retail society’s 260 food stores. The bags are purchased through Too Good To Go’s mobile app for £4, with shoppers collecting around £12 worth of food.
The partnership has now seen over 100,000 magic bags purchased since it began last year, equating to 250,000 kg of CO2e saved – which is the C02e equivalent of 49 flights around the world.
It’s one of a number of sustainability commitments from Central England, which also has a partnership with FareShare Midlands, a food redistribution charity, and aims to be carbon neutral by 2030.
Claire Koziol, head of trading operations, said:“Through our partnership with FareShare Midlands we already had a great process in place for the distribution of best-before products that had reached the end of their shelf life but could still be utilised by the projects FareShare supports across our communities.
“That, however, still left products approaching their sell-by date that ultimately would have to go in the bin if not sold in time. That is where Too Good To Go has really helped.
“It’s fantastic that after one year of the partnership with Too Good To Go we’ve now hit the milestone of 100,000 meals saved. It is making a major difference in our aim to create a sustainable society for all.”
Sophie Trueman, managing director UK & Ireland at Too Good To Go, said: “I’m thrilled to have reached this incredible milestone with Central England Co-Op. Central England’s Co-op’s ongoing commitment to fighting food waste has made them the perfect partner for us, and it’s amazing to see the significant impact we are driving together.
“I can’t wait to see our partnership with CEC continue to flourish as we rescue even more good food from going to waste.”
