Welcome to the September-October issue of Grocery Trader. Well done to the UK’s largest food charity, FareShare, which is launching the #FoodOnPlates campaign to stop millions of tonnes of fresh, unsold food from being wasted, when it could instead go to charities and community groups feeding families. One in 8 people in the UK struggles to afford food – and the pandemic has resulted in many more families facing food insecurity, with 67% of charities providing emergency food aid saying they would have to continue, even as restrictions ease. The #FoodOnPlates campaign calls for funding of £5m a year to help farmers and food producers cover the costs of safely storing and transporting unsold food so it can be redistributed.
READ THE SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER ISSUE HERE
Congratulations to Morrisons which is launching a move towards the UK’s first six ‘zero waste’ stores in Edinburgh which will have the ability to operate with zero waste by 2025 – either from the store itself or from the customers who shop at that store. If successful, the ‘zero waste’ store format will be rolled out to all of Morrisons’ 498 stores across the UK over the next year. In the longer term, Morrisons aims to recycle all of the waste it creates across all its stores by 2025.
Charity GroceryAid’s industry summer party, Barcode Festival, returned this year to a new venue, Magazine London with a sell-out event that raised more than £750,000 for grocery colleagues in need. Over 3,800 tickets were sold and a record 75 sponsors supported the event with many using it to launch new brands, making it the most successful event in the festival’s three-year history. At the event, Grocery Trader caught up with Steve Barnes, CEO, GroceryAid, to hear about the services the charity provides and the challenges it faces. See our 3-page Inside Story.
St Pierre Groupe – the international branded bakery business with St Pierre, Baker Street and Paul Hollywood bakery brands in its portfolio – has experienced phenomenal growth over the past 12 months. Its flagship brand, St Pierre is quickly becoming a household name in the UK and America, whilst all of its brands have enjoyed double-digit growth in the past year. Chris McLaughlin, Commercial Director, tells our Supplier Spotlight page how the past 12 months has impacted the bakery sector, the St Pierre Groupe business and how building retailer relationships through insight has helped its brands to thrive with a post- pandemic audience.
The transition to the Circular Economy won’t happen overnight, nor will it be delivered by any organisation acting alone. It will need brilliant minds to come together like never before. We are putting ourselves at the heart of a community that can make this happen, writes Adam Platts, Sales Marketing and Innovation Director – UK Packaging at DS Smith in an Industry Focus exclusive for Grocery Trader.
Enjoy reading the issue.
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