Warwickshire Co-op stores helping to tackle food waste with new scheme

Co-op stores across Warwickshire are trying to tackle the problem of food waste with a new initiative.

The Midcounties Co-operative has partnered up with the free anti-food waste app, Too Good To Go.

Through the collaboration, members and customers with the app, which lists nearby businesses with unsold food, can now pick up a ‘magic bag’ of discounted food that may have otherwise gone to waste at the Co-op food stores.

The ‘magic bags’ are available from £3.33 and contain at least £10’s worth or more of surplus food.

More than 10,000 bags have been sold since the initiative launched this month.

The new partnership with Too Good To Go is the next step in the Society’s mission to tackle food waste, and builds on the success of its current scheme which disposes of its food waste via anaerobic digestion.

Rupert Newman, from The Midcounties Co-operative, said: “Our commitment to help build a more sustainable world remains as strong as ever, and we are always looking for new solutions that help us to deliver this.

“We already have an excellent system in place to reduce our food waste and this partnership with Too Good To Go helps us to take that even further.

"As well as changing how we process food waste, we want to ensure as much as possible is consumed and – coupled with our sophisticated reduce-to-clear pricing model – this new initiative will help us to do just that.”

Paschalis Loucaides, UK managing director at Too Good To Go, said: “Tackling climate change has never been more vital.

"That’s why I’m so thrilled that Too Good To Go has partnered with all of The Midcounties’ 227 Your Co-op Food stores.

"Food waste accounts for 10 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, so by reducing the volume of perfectly good food going to waste together we can take a big bite out of the problem.

"I’m excited to see the impact our partnership can have in the weeks, months and years ahead.”