Felix Project launches food industry waste reduction tool

The tool, dubbed Felix Connect, connects firms with one off food donations at risk of being thrown away to organisations feeding people in need.

The automated service aims to prevent The Felix Project having to turn down small, immediate, ad hoc or quirky donations because it is unable to collect, store or deliver the food.

With the tool, caterers, events companies, retailers, suppliers and manufacturers can connect easily, with community groups automatically notified about food donations posted on the platform.

Interested groups can then accept whichever offers are most suitable and collect it themselves. The food supply contact is also kept informed by automatic email notifications about the progression of their food offer, so they know whether to expect someone or not.

Tried and tested

The Felix Project ran a pilot scheme with 35 community groups, and is now opening up the platform to all the charities that it works with. The charity hopes that more than 800 charities and communities will to advantage of the tool moving forward.

During the 12-month trial, 95 food offers were submitted and more than 2,300kg of food was prevented from being thrown away.

Commenting on the platform’s wider rollout, Felix Connect manager Georgie Czernobay said: “It’s really exciting to be expanding and offering this service to all our community groups, especially after such positive results from the pilot. We are confident it will allow us to accept more food, develop better partnerships with new and potential food suppliers and ultimately feed more people.​

“The Felix Project already works with over 300 suppliers and does what it can to accept as much food as possible, however this is logistically not always possible. Felix Connect is another string to our bow when it comes to helping the food industry continue to reduce food waste.”​

The St Vincent de Paul Society Soup Run was one of the 35 groups to take part in the trial, during which it collected 18 different donations.

“Felix Connect gives us the additional bonus of being able to give non-perishable shopping to those who have a cupboard and microwave for preparing some meals,”​ commented branch coordinator Sharon Joseph.

“Drinks and canned and packaged goods that last for days or even weeks give our clients a boost for when they have no vouchers for other food banks. We appreciate every single offer we get and collect with no issues.”​

In other news, Bakkavor has announced that chief financial officer Ben Waldron is set to leave the firm early next year.​​ ​​Lee Miley has been named as his replacement.