Branston donates 2 million meals to FareShare

TWO million meals have been donated to FareShare UK thanks to Branston's generous supply of regular spuds to the charity.

A supporter of FareShare UK since 2017, Branston regularly supplies the charity with potatoes to create nutritious, filling meals for the users of its almost 8,500 services across the country, including lunch clubs, homeless shelters and community cafes. FareShare takes surplus food from across the food industry and distributes it to independent organisations that all work to fight hunger and tackle food poverty.

Surplus food provided by Branston equates to 840 tonnes of spuds and highlights Branston's continued commitment to community causes as well as reducing crop waste.

Mark Willcox, agronomy director at Branston, said: “We’re always looking to find ways to minimise waste from our farms and factories whilst maximising crop utilisation. Potatoes are a nutritious and healthy side of plate staple that really does help feed the nation! On top of that, they’re a great British farming success story.

“Food poverty is such a challenge in this country, and the work that FareShare does to combat this is incredible. We’re pleased to be able to play a small role in this and will continue to work with our partners to redistribute surplus spuds and support in any way we can.”

Branston handles over 350,000 tonnes of potatoes a year and is one of the nation’s leading suppliers for both fresh and prepared potato products.  

Simon Millard, Director of Food at FareShare, said: "We are enormously grateful to the team at Branston for reaching an incredible milestone of delivering the equivalent of 2 million meals to FareShare. This good-to-eat surplus food has been helped to support our network of charities across the UK including after school and breakfast clubs, hospices, domestic abuse refuges and homelessness shelters.

“By providing FareShare with surplus food, Branston makes a huge difference to ensuring that good food goes to people in need, not waste. Their support helps to address the environmental issue of food waste at the same time as strengthening communities across the country and ensuring people in need have access to healthy diets. Thanks for helping FareShare make the food go further."

For more information on FareShare visit https://fareshare.org.uk/

Photo: (L-R) Emma White, FareShare commercial manager (Fresh Produce), Katie Knox, Branston environmental & sustainability co-ordinator, Celia and Linda, FareShare volunteers, Shay Dempsey, FareShare food supply manager, Lizi and Mark, FareShare volunteers and Tom Smith, Branston group HSE manager