Charlie Bigham’s, the UK’s leading premium pre-prepared meals brand, has announced a series of environmental commitments in a continuation of their mission to redefine its business success through purpose, not just profit.
The B-Corp brand has set out ambitious targets to become net-zero by 2040 and cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 42% in the next five years alone. Part of this commitment includes a pioneering industry-first initiative to cut food waste by rescuing and redistributing surplus sauces from their kitchens in Somerset and London.
Charlie Bigham’s works with their long-standing charity partners, including FareShare South West, City Harvest and the Coronation Food Project to redistribute these rescued sauces via charity partners from Bristol to Aberdeen. This unique initiative created over 240,000 delicious meals for people in need throughout 2024 alone.
The approach is part of B-Corp brand Bigham’s ambitious target to eliminate edible food waste by 2025 and continue cutting their greenhouse gas emissions.
Patrick Cairns, CEO of Charlie Bigham’s, said: “We believe our food is too good to waste, especially when so many still go hungry. That’s why we’ve gone beyond reduction to actively eliminate surplus – and when we do have excess, we ensure it feeds people, not bins.
“Our top priority is improving the impact of our own kitchens. We are on track to reduce the amount of edible food waste to zero by the end of the year and to achieve our goal of net zero carbon by 2040. Thanks to the dedication of everyone in the business, we are also on course to reach our target of 10,000 hours of volunteering in support of the charities and good causes we support by 2027.
“A significant portion of our environmental impact comes from our suppliers’ activities. Therefore, we are working closely with them to understand and reduce this impact. We have joined the Science Based Target Initiative, a global organisation that helps companies and financial institutions set science-based targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with climate science.
“Sustainability is at our core, but our mission goes deeper: to ensure our business uplifts people as much as it protects the planet. That means valuing every person who touches our food – from kitchen teams to communities – through fair wages, upskilling, and fighting food poverty.
In addition to their surplus sauces initiative, Charlie Bigham’s also donates chicken wings and pastry offcuts. These excess trimmings from pie casings are remixed into dough and donated to charity partners, rescuing 83 tonnes of pastry to date, while wings are donated to frontline charities. Around 100 kilos of chicken wings per day would previously have gone to waste, as the business had no need for them within their supply chain.
Ben Evans, Food & Logistics Manager at FareShare Southwest, said: “We know that good quality, edible surplus is generated at different stages throughout the production process – but it’s often hard to reach.
“The Charlie Bigham’s approach is pioneering – they’ve put sustainability and community above convenience – and as a result, have reached thousands more people across the Southwest.”
These initiatives have already delivered remarkable results. In 2024, 242,000 surplus meals and ingredients (107 tonnes) were donated to charity partners. Since 2021, over half a million meals have been donated, with 162,000 of these saved from waste, according to figures from Charlie Bigham’s Impact Report.
A further 43,600 meals were saved through Charlie Bigham’s take-home fridges, allowing their employees to take home surplus stock that did not meet requirements. The brand also saves and redistributes its NPD trial stock during the development process.
Mary Parsons, head of food at City Harvest, added: “Charlie Bigham’s makes tackling food waste an everyday process.
“A lot of companies don’t see the cost-benefit in doing this, but Charlie Bigham’s has a budget in their P&L for packaging up waste food, making them different to the majority of other donors.”
All of this forms part of Charlie Bigham’s wider mission to eliminate edible food waste and achieve net-zero by 2040.
As Patrick Cairns explains: “Food waste may be inevitable at scale, but what we do about it is a choice, and for us, that choice is clear.
“We don’t see food waste as just an operational challenge; we see it as an opportunity to do good, to innovate, and to unite our team behind a purpose bigger than profit.”
