Fortec helps distribute food to UK’s hungry through Fareshare charity cooperation

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Pallet distribution network Fortec has delivered 200 pallets of food since December 2020 as part of its collaboration with FareShare, a charity working to fight hunger and tackle food waste in the UK.

FareShare redistributes good-to-eat surplus food to frontline charities and community groups throughout the UK, which is then turned into meals for those most in need, providing over two million meals per week through 11,000 charities across the UK.

FareShare works closely with the food industry, including major supermarkets, wholesalers, and other food businesses, to help reduce the good food needlessly going to waste in their supply chain and diverts that quality food to organisations that provide food and wrap round care services to vulnerable people such as homeless hostels, children’s breakfast clubs and mental health support charities.

FareShare South Midlands, based in Milton Keynes, is the closest warehouse to Fortec, and has distributed food equivalent to over 950,000 meals since the start of December 2020, supporting around 60 local charities and helping nearly 7,000 people over Christmas and into the first few months of 2021.

As part of this work, Fortec have transported over 200 pallets of food since December, predominantly containing produce that can be more difficult to transport including items such as potatoes, onions and bananas.

FareShare says it chose to work with Fortec Distribution Network, which is part of the Pall-Ex Group, as they were looking to diversify their transport options, helping to ensure they could manage the volume of food they were being offered.

Fortec has now delivered to every FareShare Regional Centre (excluding Belfast), distributing over 124 tonnes of food around the UK.

Michelle Naylor, UK Commercial Director at Pall-Ex Group, worked closely with FareShare when it first expressed an interest to work with the business. She has spoken of her and Fortec’s pride in being involved with the charity’s work:

“I am really proud that Fortec can offer a reliable and sustainable solution to FareShare and its local charity partners. The Fortec network’s hub-and-spoke model means that delivering to multiple locations across the country is made much more efficient, something which a charity such as this can really benefit from. As we continue to see our relationship develop, I am confident we can continue to offer great value to FareShare and our collaboration will grow, so we can play our part in helping even more people together.”

The work of FareShare and similar organisations has been brought to the forefront of national thinking in recent months because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the work of Fareshare ambassador and Manchester United football star, Marcus Rashford.

Jamie Parsons, Food Supply Manager at FareShare, has explained why the charity’s work is so important, and how companies like Fortec are allowing them to achieve their goal of tackling hunger and reducing needless food waste:

“Since March 2020 when the first lockdown began, FareShare has delivered the equivalent of nearly 130 million meals to vulnerable families, children and individuals, as well as the elderly and homeless in our local communities, the equivalent of four meals per second, every second, of the 12 months following lockdown. FareShare’s team of volunteers work tirelessly to ensure we help as many people as possible, and through our partnerships with companies like Fortec, we continue to diversify and develop our portfolio of partners to ensure we can divert as much food from waste as possible and effectively redistribute it across our charity network. We look forward to working closely together in the future, as we continue to support people across the UK affected by hunger.”


Photo credit: Fare share