FareShare has teamed up with KFC UK & Ireland to launch a new food redistribution partnership which it says will help deliver surplus food from KFC restaurants to people most in need and to prevent it from going to waste.
FareShare says the programme will help deliver the equivalent of more than four million meals across the year to local people in need, at a time when many are faced with rising food prices and crippling energy bills.
In a recent survey of more than 1,200 charities receiving food through FareShare, 90% of those organisations say their services have been affected by the cost of living crisis, and 75% say they’ve seen an increase in demand for their services over the last year.
10% of the UK’s population faces food insecurity each day, FareShare says.
Chief Executive at FareShare, Lindsay Boswell, said: “With the current cost of living crisis affecting millions of people already struggling to make ends meet, this food is needed now more than ever and we anticipate that, through this partnership, more than 2,000 charities and community groups will be able to collect from their local KFC restaurant.”
The full rollout will see KFC onboard the majority of its 1,000 restaurants by the end of 2022, following a pilot in 20 outlets in the Midlands, the North East, and Essex. Since the beginning of the eight-month trial period, FareShare says the partnership has redistributed the equivalent of more than 27,500 meals to over 22 local community groups via FareShare Go.
The partnership is also FareShare Go’s first venture into frozen food, which the organisation says is further diversifying the food offering available to people facing hunger.
Jenny Packwood, Chief Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Officer at KFC, said: “We want to move fast and hard on rolling out our food redistribution programme by the end of the year, and across all of our restaurants because we cannot sit by while our communities suffer.
“That’s why we’re thrilled to be working with FareShare to deliver so many meals, which would have otherwise gone to waste, to people facing hunger in our communities across the country.
“By redistributing our surplus fried chicken, we’ll not only be tackling food insecurity, but we’ll also be taking an important step towards our goal of becoming a fully circular, zero waste business by 2035.”