Surplus supermarket food destined for the bin will be sold for 'as little as possible' at a new city store.
Foodprint, a ‘social supermarket,’ will open in a Sneinton warehouse this summer – selling "perfectly edible food" that would otherwise be thrown away because it is past its best before date or has a packaging error.
The store, in Sneinton Road, is the brainchild of a group of University of Nottingham students who are passionate about ending food waste and food poverty simultaneously.
"The UK has the highest standards for food retailing in Europe, with 20 to 40 percent of fruit and vegetables being rejected from sales before they each shelves," said Foodprint managing director Elis Edhem “At the same time four million people in our country are uncertain about when their next meal will be.”
The students are currently working on securing contracts with supermarkets and food suppliers and are hoping to open at the end of June or beginning of July.
"We have talked to a number of supermarkets and local enterprises in the area that are often regrettably forced to throw away perfectly edible food due to packaging errors or because they are past they best buy date" said Foodprint logistics manager Alex Sargentson. “Foodprint will be a solution for these enterprises wanting to reduce their waste and carbon emissions, while helping struggling individuals in our community.”
In the run up to the opening the students are fundraising to cover initial running costs – and have so far raised nearly £4,000 of their £9,000 target.
Once up and running it will be staffed through a scheme which helps unemployed people find work.
A city council spokesman said: “We are really pleased to support this initiative from Foodprint. The students have found a great way to tackle two important challenges that Nottingham faces – reducing food waste and tackling food poverty. Local organisations are keen to give away their unused stock and Foodprint will provide a convenient way for them to redistribute this food to local people in need.
"It's really encouraging to see students and local businesses working together to find solutions for local issues. Getting established will be hard work for the project and we are delighted to be able to offer reduced rent for two years whilst the initiative gets up and running and we are exploring how else we can support the students with this endeavour."
To make a donation to Foodprint’s fundraising efforts visit jumpstart.hubbub.net.
The above article by Rachel Gorman first published on nottinghampost.com in May, 2017.
