The food, collected over a six-month period from 2 Sisters’ Rogerstone Park factory in Newport, would be enough to feed eight consecutive sell-out shows at Wales’ Millennium Centre, according to the charity.
Sarah Germain, manager at FareShare Cymru, said: “The meal solutions team at Rogerstone Park has really stepped up to the challenge and diverted their surplus food to us on a regular basis.
‘Helping to feed thousands’
“The food has made a huge difference and, instead of being wasted, it's now helping to feed thousands of people across south-east Wales who need it most.”
One of Europe’s biggest prepared meal facilities, the Rogerstone plant began diverting food to FareShare Cymru at the end of July and has been supplying them with twice-weekly deliveries ever since.
Lisa Hancock, general manager at 2 Sisters Rogerstone Park, said: “It's fantastic that we've been able to play our part and help people within our local community, while at the same time reducing food waste.
“This has developed into a great arrangement that turns a potential environmental challenge into a social solution.”
Food redistribution partnership
2 Sisters’ partnership with the Welsh arm of FareShare is the latest development in the two companies’ food redistribution agreement.
The manufacturer has provided more than 7t of its surplus stock to various FareShare regional centres since 2015, enabling the charity to provide 18,000 meals to people in need across the UK.
In April last year, the 2 Sisters’ commercial team dedicated to Tesco joined FareShare to help deliver food to a selection of the 150 charities the organisation supports in the West Midlands.
Meanwhile, last month, 2 Sisters teamed up with FareShare to donate food equivalent to more than 200,000 meals, in a bid to tackle hunger over Christmas and the New Year period. The 84t of food included cranberry sauce, carrots, peas, potatoes, Christmas puddings and turkey.