That's why we’re doing what we can to reduce our food waste and ensure every good bit of chocolate is enjoyed.
We know that 6.4 millions tonnes of food is chucked away every year in the UK, of which around 70% (or 4.5 million tonnes) is perfectly edible. That’s over the weight of 720,000 elephants, or enough to fill the Royal Albert Hall 90 times. Pretty chunky.
We're not just talking about the bruised bananas in the fruit bowl or that forgotten loaf of bread, but all kinds of both fresh and packaged food goes to waste, just because it isn't sold in time and gets close to its best before date. This is not only a massive waste of resources, but also contributes towards the climate crisis we're facing today, as agriculture and manufacturing have a sizeable carbon footprint. For perspective, given how far food travels to get its way to your supermarket, 4.5 millions tonnes of food waste emits the same CO2e as 4.6 millions return flights to Australia!
Luckily, there are couple of brilliant ways we can reduce food waste.
What can you do?
1. PICK UP FOOD THAT IS OTHERWISE GOING TO WASTE. Helpful apps like fellow B Corp Too Good To Go allow you to pick up short-dated food at a reduced cost, saving it from going to waste. We've just excitingly signed up and popped ourselves on the app, meaning you can bag yourself some delicious bars, bags or bundles of chocolate. You'd be in good company too, as TGTG has had over 3.2 million happy customers, unified in recognising the part they can play part in reducing food waste.
2. KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED ON BRANDS FOCUSING ON FOOD WASTE. Innovation keeps getting more and more delicious, and people are getting clever with perfectly good food that would ordinarily go to waste. Some of our favourite brands are Toast Ale, who brew beer from from fresh bread that would otherwise go to waste, and similarly Rubies in the Rubble make lovely sauces and sauces from fruit and veg that are deemed too ugly for our shelves.
3. DONATE FOOD WHERE YOU CAN. Perhaps it's a food bank in your local supermarkets, perhaps it's to a neighbour. When we can afford to, it's brilliant to be able to share and help those who need it. We were really happy to be able to gift some chocolate (3,310 bars to be precise) to our heroes in the NHS and the vulnerable in Care Homes during lockdown. We’ve also donated for the first time to brilliant food bank charities like FoodCycle and Fareshare, who are able to get food bundles in the hands of those who need it most. We don’t plan on stopping this anytime soon, whilst we still have great chocolate going.
4. PLAN YOUR MEALS IN ADVANCE. We’re not talking astronaut-style packet meals, don’t you worry. But having a bit of an idea of what your week looks like as you do a food shop will ensure you don’t stock up when you don’t need to. Plus you can get creative with your leftovers. Too much fruit? Smoothie. Too much veg? A soup. One portion too much from last night’s dinner? Freezy-does-it
5. COMPOST. For those peels, rinds, pips, stems and leafy bits. If they can’t be your dinner, perhaps they can be your garden’s instead.
For more info on what you can do to minimise food waste, check out Love Food Hate Waste, and for more info on our chocolate and ingredients, check out our story.
We're available on Too Good To Go on various days throughout the week for collection from our Vauxhall office or across SW London.
Image from Love Food Hate Waste.
