50% reduction in surplus food sent to anaerobic digestion by 2030
Globally, around 30% of total food produced is either lost or wasted and with food insecurity rising we need to act.
Good food shouldn't go to waste and so we are taking action in our supply chain and own operations but also with our customers and our communities . We are working with our farmers to reduce food waste across our supply chain and to reuse waste as feed for animals. We are helping customers to make more informed choices about the food they buy. And where there is surplus food in our stores, we are partnering to support our communities through donations to help more people access good, nutritious food.
Our ambition
Our progress and highlights
7,386 tonnes
of surplus food was saved from going to waste in 2024/25
17.6 million
meals were delivered to people and communities in need in 2024/25
373%
more surplus food redistributed to communities versus our 2019/20 baseline
Edible
surplus target introduced in store
Our areas of focus
We’re tackling food waste at every stage of our value chain—working with suppliers, improving our own operations, and supporting customers to waste less at home. By taking a joined-up approach, we’re preventing waste before it happens and making sure surplus food goes to people and communities wherever possible.
In our supply chain
Reducing waste starts with how we develop, design and create our products in partnership with our suppliers, growers and manufacturers. From reviewing our product specifications to maximising crop yields we have been able to develop new and popular ranges such as Stamford Street offering affordable food to customers whilst reducing food waste. We continue to encourage suppliers to set and align their own food waste reduction ambitions and have clear policies in place providing guidance on the redistribution of surplus food and support industry wide initiatives such as Alliance Food Sourcing to tackle food waste across the supply chain.
In our own operations
We work hard to maximise our product shelf life through efficient ordering, life optimisation and by leveraging the most appropriate packaging to maintain quality and freshness. We leverage technology to improve order accuracy and maximise sell through such as intelligent automation to identify on-shelf stock gaps to machine learning models to optimise mark downs on near-dated products.
Read more In our customers’ homes
We know that a significant proportion of food waste occurs in customers’ homes. That’s why we take a proactive approach to help households waste less starting with clear and consistent product labelling, aligned to industry best practice, to support safe storage and longer enjoyment of food. We’ve also made deliberate moves to remove multibuy promotions that can lead to over-purchasing, introduced loose produce options to give customers more control over quantities, and designed packaging that balances freshness with recyclability. These are all part of our ongoing commitment to help customers make informed choices and reduce waste at home.
Redistributing food to communities in need
We’re driven by our purpose and committed to making sure that everyone can access good food, whoever they are and whatever their circumstance but we know that unfortunately the gap between those who can easily access good food and those who can’t continues to widen, and millions across the UK face food insecurity. That’s why any unsold surplus food from our stores that is still edible gets redistributed through our partners Neighbourly and Olio to support our stores local communities and to help feed those that need it most.
Read more Reusing waste
Where surplus food can’t be redistributed to people, we work to keep its value in the system through a circular approach. This includes converting unsold food into high-quality animal feed for use across our supply chain, and where that’s not possible, into energy via anaerobic digestion. In a UK-first, we’re now using food waste to power 30 delivery trucks at our Emerald Park depot. Converting surplus food that’s unfit for human consumption into biogas via anaerobic digestion, the biogas is used to create a 100% liquid biomethane fuel to power the trucks, closing the loop by turning waste into a resource that supports our operations and reduces emissions.
Case study
Remove ‘best before’ dates
We are committed to helping our customers reduce food waste. In line with WRAPs guidance we have removed ‘best before’ dates from over 1500 products lines to encourage customers to check freshness and avoid waste.
One example of this is within our own-brand milk range. WRAP has reported that over 490 million pints thrown away each year, often because the milk has passed its use-by date. By swapping use-by dates for best-before dates across our own-brand milk ranges we are helping customers to become more aware of checking for freshness and are supporting them with reducing waste. We were the first major retailer to make this change in September 2023, demonstrating our commitment to being a leader in this space.
Case study
Innovating to reduce food waste and carbon
In a UK first, from March 2025, 30 of our Emerald Park HGV delivery trucks are powered using food waste as an alternative to diesel. Converting surplus food that’s unfit for human consumption into biogas via anaerobic digestion saving over 3,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
Case study
In partnership with Olio
In 2024, we stepped up our efforts to maximise the amount of food we give to people and communities via the roll out of our partnership with food waste app Olio, helping us redistribute products with a ‘use-by’ date.
Through our partnerships, 17.6 million meals were delivered to people and communities in need in 2024/25.
