Social supermarkets
In the UK, 4.1 million tonnes of food is wasted in the grocery retail supply chain each year. The wasted food is safe, in-date and edible, but isn’t used by major retailers for a variety of reasons, such as faulty packaging and over-ordering.
‘Social supermarkets’ reduce this food waste by selling this ‘waste’ stock at low prices to local people on low incomes who are struggling with food poverty.
London’s social supermarkets
The aim of social supermarkets is to improve food access for Londoners on low incomes.
To be eligible to join the shop customers have to be on lower incomes and live locally. The food is sold at around 30% of the normal retail price.
Members will also have access a wide range of services to help them address the issues which may have led to them experiencing food poverty in the first place.
There are two existing social supermarkets in London, run by Community Shop in Barnsley and West Norwood.
West Norwood’s social supermarket uses any excess stock as ingredients for its popular in-house community café. The café promotes healthy eating, gives cooking tips to its members, and serves a selection of meals and snacks made by their chef.
Based on these two existing social supermarkets, we’ll be running a new pilot in three London boroughs from early 2016.
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