Houghton Regis business dishes up 335,000 meals for charity through food donations

Whitbread PLC has donated over 140 tonnes of food to charity, the majority of which will be to food redistribution charity FareShare as part of its new partnership with the organisation.

As part of its sustainability programme, Force For Good, the food, which has been diverted as a result of the closure of its restaurants and is enough to provide 335,000 meals, will be redistributed to thousands of front-line charities who are working to support those most vulnerable through the coronavirus crisis.

As a result of its hotel and restaurant closures Whitbread has seen a large increase in surplus good quality, in date food needing to be donated.

These donations will continue to support FareShare’s network of charities and community groups.

The majority of the food will be distributed to FareShare and the Real Junk Food Project through Whitbread’s two main logistics centres, and then onwards through the organisation’s network of frontline charities and community groups it supports.

Since lockdown measures began in March, FareShare has seen a 90 per cent increase in the amount of food it is getting out to frontline charities as well as a threefold increase in the number of charities applying to receive food.

In total the donations from Whitbread, to its charity partners, are in the region of 140 tonnes, and include over 173,000 eggs, 2000 packs of cheese, 3000 gammon steaks as well as other essential fresh items such as milk, tomatoes, bananas and potatoes.

Fresh, nutritious food is particularly valued by charities and community groups – including schools, foodbanks, care homes and homeless shelters.

Phil Birbeck, Managing Director at Whitbread Restaurants, said: “We are extremely proud that we are able to act as a Force for Good through our partnerships with FareShare and The Real Junk Food Project, which enable us to donate food that would potentially have gone to waste.

"It is particularly pleasing that numerous community groups and charities will benefit in result.

This is an extremely difficult time for everyone, but we are so pleased that something positive is able to come from this as we continue to find ways to support our teams, our guests and our suppliers in unprecedented times.”

Lindsay Boswell, FareShare Chief Executive, said: “FareShare already provides enough food to charities to help them provide almost a million meals a week - but as the Coronavirus outbreak develops, demand for our service is only going to continue rising.

"The past month alone has seen a record number of charities requesting to sign up, which only makes Whitbread’s support even more vital.

"The nutritious, fresh food supplied by Whitbread will be distributed to thousands of charities working tirelessly through this crisis to ensure those most vulnerable are not left at increased risk of hunger."