Food Waste

In 2017, we formed a partnership with FareShare, a charity dedicated to eliminating food insecurity and reducing food waste across the UK. All our stores with surplus food can scan and upload products using the FareShare app. The surplus food is collected by FareShare who distribute it to charities, enabling them to feed those in need. Any food FareShare is unable to take is shared with Olio’s Waste Heroes or given to Partners.
 

Waitrose converts 100% of food that is unsuitable for human consumption into either energy for use in the agriculture sector (using anaerobic digestion) or animal feed.

Over 60% of food waste in the UK takes place at home. We’re committed to helping our customers tackle this challenge, aiming to help halve our customers' household food waste by 2030. A dedicated page on Waitrose.com offers practical advice on how customers can make sure food that’s still fit to eat is never wasted.
 

In 2024, we collaborated with WRAP at Waitrose’s Thatcham store to test how different messaging affects sales of loose fruit and vegetables. Buying loose produce can help people reduce food waste at home, and the trial’s results highlighted some of the barriers preventing customers from buying more produce this way.

Waste occurs throughout the whole food supply chain and is a problem the entire industry must resolve. In 2018, Waitrose was among the first supermarkets to adopt the new industry-wide Food Waste Reduction Roadmap devised by the Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to help food businesses target food waste. We now stipulate that all our own-brand UK suppliers commit to the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap as part of reducing food waste in our supply chains by 50% by 2030.