Apetito donates 20,000 meals to food redistribution charities

The donation was split between FareShare and City Harvest London, two charities with a common goal of redistributing food to those who need it the most.

Staff from across the business volunteered their time and effort to prep, cook and package up vast quantities of Cottage Pie and Macaroni Cheese meals during a production shift at Apetito’s kitchens in Wiltshire.

The producer also received support from a selection of the company’s key supply partners, who donated some of the necessary ingredients and materials to make production possible.

Supplier support

Of note, ABP provided more than 800kg of beef for the Cottage Pie recipe, Wyke Farms Donated 160kg of its Wyke Farms Mature Cheddar, and Faerch – Apetito’s tray partner – gave 20,000 meal trays free of charge.

Ingredients firm Jardox donated 47kg of Roast Beef Bouillon and Integrity Print provided the service of printing custom designed labels for every meal.

Apetito chief executive and chair Paul Freeston said: “Making nutritious and quality meals is central to our business and we are proud to be able to help FareShare and City Harvest London, who both do incredible work to help tackle hunger and food poverty, in this way.​

“I would like to thank everyone in our team for coming together to make this possible, along with our partner suppliers for their generosity. It was a fantastic effort and teamwork at its best – we know that it will truly have ‘made a difference’ to many people’s lives.”​

Industry partnerships

FareShare has partnered with food and drink manufacturers across the country to help prevent waste and redistribute edible produce to people who need it most.

In June, Asda expanded its ‘back of store’ food donation scheme in partnership with Fareshare and local food sharing app Olio. In May, 2 Sisters owner Ranjit Singh Boparan revealed plans to donate 5m meals per year to FareShare, working in tandem with customers and supply chain partners.

Chris Morling, head of ‘Food Alliance’ at FareShare, added: “By providing nutritious meals, Apetito is helping us support vulnerable people and the charities that work tirelessly to assist them. It's partnerships like these that enable FareShare to continue our vital work in the community.”​

Meanwhile, baker James Eid has helped save more than one million surplus pancakes from being thrown away​​ through business Earth & Wheat.