Tesco launches free staff food scheme to tackle food waste

Supermarket giant Tesco will be introducing a new scheme that lets colleagues take home food that’s approaching its expiry date.

Food that cannot be sold is first offered to local charities and community food groups, but often charities do not need or cannot process everything that is offered to them, so any food left over will now be made available to colleagues.

Dedicated storage areas and fridges will be placed in break rooms to safely store food on its use by or best before date. The surplus food will initially be made available for 1p before becoming free of charge later on in the year.

The scheme will be introduced to Tesco stores by the end of February 2018.

Tesco’s head of food waste reduction Mark Little said: “We want to do everything we can to make sure perfectly good food doesn’t go to waste.

“Our Colleague Shops are a win-win, providing an additional step to support our efforts to tackle food waste in our own operations, and offer colleagues an extra little help at the end of their shift.”