Tulip Ltd, the UK’s largest integrated pig producer and processor, has outlined plans to minimise food loss and waste throughout its supply chain.
The company has reported just 0.1% food waste across its UK sites, one of the lowest reported waste levels across the food manufacturing industry. As part of its ongoing sustainability goals, the Tulip is reviewing its entire supply chain hierarchy to help further reduce food waste and ensure that any surplus food is donated for human consumption.
The strategy will include improving production efficiencies throughout its production sites to further minimise waste, while also supporting sites on the best ways to safely distribute any surplus produce.
As part of this process, it is working with FareShare to increase its contributions across its UK for those in need – in 2019, Tulip provided 37.4 tonnes of surplus products to FareShare, enough for an estimated 90,049 meals.
Matt Dight, Tulip’s head of corporate social responsibility, said: “Food waste is a key issue for the food industry given the economic, social and environmental impact, and is one which resonates strongly with our commitment to move towards a circular economy.
“We will continue to review our operations to reduce and minimise our impact on the environment, as part of our sustainability strategy, to ensure we have a culture that supports our people, our animals and our planet.”
“We’re proud to partner with FareShare, who offer an incredible service to people across the UK and they are a fantastic asset for the food and drink industry to ensure that fit-for-consumption food is safely and securely re-distributed to charities and community groups instead of being wasted.”
Les Golden, Food Partners Senior Manager at FareShare, offered ‘a big thank you’ to Tulip for its donations of meat to support our network of charities and community groups across the UK.
“Meat is one of FareShare’s most sought after products, especially in the face of the current crisis, and will help greatly in allowing the charities to provide healthy and nutritious meals for their clients,” he said.
The company is also a signatory of The Friends of Champions 12.3 network, formally pledging alignment to the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to reduce global food waste by 50% by 2030.