How frozen produce specialists are supporting food redistribution charity to deliver meals to communities and people in need.

Since 2017 Greenyard Frozen UK has been supporting FareShare, the UK’s leading food redistribution charity, helping to ensure that no good food goes to waste. FareShare works with a network of 8,000 charities nationwide to help feed people in need, strengthen communities and harness the power of food to change lives.

Greenyard Frozen UK, part of the Greenyard Group, one of the largest suppliers of fresh, frozen and prepared fruit and vegetables in the world, supplies a large percentage of retailers, food service and food manufacturers across the country. Greenyard has two production sites in the UK, both for processing and packing products including peas, cauliflower, carrots, raspberries and strawberries.

Greenyard recently became part of FareShare’s Food Life Extension project “FLEX”.  Through the project Greenyard prepares and freezes surplus fresh produce to store and supply to organisations across the FareShare network. This extends the life of fruit and vegetables by 12-24 months and enables charities the convenience of nutritious food at times when fresh market produce isn’t available.

Laura Dixon, communications and community projects manager at Greenyard says: “One of the benefits of FareShare’s FLEX project is being able to extend the life of fresh produce. For example, when there is an offer of 15 tonnes of surplus carrots which only have a few good days left, FareShare just can’t get them out to the charities quickly enough. Thanks to our expertise and facilities, we can prepare and freeze the nutritious carrots and extend their shelf life. Over a longer period, charities will benefit knowing that when fresh produce isn’t available, there will still be some frozen seasonal stock to fill the gap.”

Greenyard has also supported the FLEX project by exploring collaborations with specialist cannery WeCan Foods. This ensures that even small quantities of surplus food from various suppliers, can go into making canned soups. Greenyard recently provided edamame beans to make a potato and bean soup – eventually making over  160,000 cans to distribute to charities and people in need.

Laura Dixon says: “The soups-in-a-tin FLEX initiative increases the shelf-life of healthy and convenient pure-plant products, which is amazing for charities! Not only is this a nutritious meal, it is ideal for those who have limited cooking facilities.

Alongside supporting the FLEX project, Greenyard has been working behind the scenes to support other FareShare initiatives including the charity’s employability programme; regular volunteering at FareShare sites across the UK; and visiting charities that benefit from FareShare food, seeing the impact on individuals and their communities firsthand.

Laura Dixon says: “I hope that this story will inspire a few more partners to get on board with FareShare. Just one company can make the difference, by having that one key ingredient for a tasty and nutritious ready meal or soup. And there’s so many other factors that can add up and make such a huge difference. So it’s so much more than just supplying food to charities, it’s about creating a healthier future for everyone.”