Kicking off 2025 with a focus on giving and on collective action, this year Sainsbury’s and its long term food supplier Greencore have committed to donating one million fresh meals to those experiencing food insecurity, putting their heads together to work out how they can maximise their combined resources.
Customers can support the one million meal donation by purchasing any by Sainsbury’s Italian style ready meals, including favourites such as spaghetti bolognaise and carbonara, between now and the end of April knowing that 25p from each product sold will go towards the initiative. Information on this will be available to those shopping both in store and online.
The meals themselves will then be produced by Greencore and distributed by FareShare, the UK’s leading food redistribution charity, who will deliver them to over 8,000 frontline charities and community projects across the country. Sainsbury’s is a proud founding member of FareShare and also works with the charity daily to redistribute depot food surplus.
Richard Crampton, director of fresh food at Sainsbury’s, said: “We recognise the need for collaboration across the food industry to make significant change in addressing food insecurity. This is a focus of our ongoing work with Comic Relief and we’re delighted to be working with Greencore, a key supplier, to unlock this new way to help out and to provide good food for all. Together we can efficiently use our combined resources to donate fresh meals to those that need it most.”
Dalton Philips, CEO at Greencore, said: “We are long-standing supporters of FareShare and have also previously worked with Comic Relief on product launches to support people living in food poverty. We are delighted to continue this work in collaboration with our valued customer Sainsbury’s.”
Kris Gibbon-Walsh, CEO at FareShare, said: “We are delighted to see Sainsbury’s, Comic Relief and Greencore coming together to use surplus capacity to create great food. By working in collaboration across supply chains, there is huge potential to scale up food redistribution and reach more people in need through a network of over 8,000 charities in every region of the UK. From homelessness shelters and afterschool clubs to refuges and older people’s lunch clubs, the additional food resulting from this initiative will bring people together, fostering connections and access essential support services. Working together, we can harness the power of surplus food to strengthen communities across the UK and help individuals and their communities thrive.”
This activity follows Sainsbury’s winter fundraising campaign where every penny from each pack of by Sainsbury’s and Free from classic mince pies sold was donated to charity partner Comic Relief to help donate over five million meals*. Both these initiatives are part of the ongoing work that Sainsbury’s and Comic Relief are doing to tackle food poverty and ensure communities have improved access to affordable, diverse and nutritious food.
For more information on Sainsbury’s work with Comic Relief visit: Comic Relief partnership | Sainsbury’s. Comic Relief is the operating name of Charity Projects, registered charity in England & Wales (326568) and Scotland (SC039730).
