Save-On-Foods waste reduction program expands

A goal that was expected to take six years has been met and exceeded in just six months by Save-On- Foods.

The Western Canadian grocery chain cut its food waste in half over that period, working with B.C.-based organizations FoodMesh and Loop Resource and in partnership with Food Banks BC and other charities such as the Salvation Army in Vernon.

Eighty-six Save-On stores – more than half of its locations – are now diverting 100 per cent of their unsalable perishable food from landfills.

The two Vernon stores are part of a program that sees produce, meat, dairy and other items picked up daily by the Salvation Army for its food programs, and for other uses in the community.

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The company is in the process of scaling its 100 per cent food waste diversion process to another 35 stores, which will be food waste-free by the end of the year.

Today, Save-On-Foods rolled out the next food waste diversion hub in Maple Ridge, B.C., which will also provide food waste diversion services for locations in the neighbouring cities of Mission and Pitt Meadows.

Since reaching the 50 per cent reduction target announced in January, the company revised its goal to become a zero-food waste operation within three years.

“We started the ball rolling on diverting our surplus food from landfills with a single store in February of 2018, and from there, worked on three simultaneous pilot projects in collaboration with Food Mesh, Loop Resources, and members of Food Banks BC to ensure we had a scalable and sustainable solution that allowed us to confidently state our first target,” Darrell Jones, president of Save-On-Foods, said.

“Since then, we’ve rolled this out to the point that more than half of all our stores diverting 100 per cent of their perishables, 100 per cent of the time. This solution was grown here in British Columbia, and we are confident it will work across the country. We have created a process that can track and measure surplus food and how it’s put to better and higher uses. This is a great first step in our ultimate goal of being a zero-waste company, and we are able to leverage the insights from the process to help us reduce surplus and potentially wasted food in the first place.”

Food that’s unsalable but perfectly safe to consume is diverted to food banks and other participating non-profit organizations, while other food ot safe for human consumption is provided to family farms for animal feed and compost.

“This recovery program provide fresh healthy perishables to our population’s most food insecure while supporting our local farmers and diverting avoidable food loss away from our waste streams. We are incredibly excited to be part of such an important initiative,” Jessica Regan, the CEO of FoodMesh, said.

“With close to 1.5 million metric tonnes valued at close to $6.4 billion of surplus edible food wasted each year in B.C. and close to 100,000 individuals struggling to put food on the table, perishable food recovery with our partner, Save-On-Foods has been a true game-changer for food banks in B.C. Now fresh, healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry and dairy are made available to every person at risk of hunger rather than ending up as waste,” Laura Lansink, Executive Director, Food Banks BC, said.

Through these partnerships, Save-On-Foods has provided more than 500,000 free meals to families in need across Western Canada since the beginning of the year.

Save-On-Foods is owned by the Jim Pattison Group, the same ownership as Vernon Matters, and Beach Radio.