Food Surplus Redistribution Evidence Project Summary Report

This report summarises the findings from an evidence project undertaken to identify the key barriers to increasing the redistribution of food, the opportunities for accessing more of the available surplus food and identifying possible areas of intervention. This included surveying a sample of organisations across the food supply chain to understand the extent to which both financial and non-financial barriers are impacting on the involvement of companies in food surplus redistribution activity and their ability to do more in this area. It was also important to understand how companies decide what happens to surplus food and how it is typically managed.

The research was commissioned to inform the development of the Defra Food Waste Fund, the first phase of which was awarded in May 2019. A total of £15 million of funding was made available for 2019/20 to reduce food waste.