Award-winning social supermarket urges Government to end reliance on emergency food parcels
Community Shop, the UK’s first social supermarket chain, has unveiled a ground-breaking white paper titled Food and Beveridge report: the future of food aid in the UK. This report calls on the government to adopt a sustainable, person-centred approach to tackle the growing issue of food insecurity and end reliance on emergency food parcels.
Inspired by Sir William Beveridge’s revolutionary vision paper, published in 1942, which transformed British society and led to the establishment of the welfare state, Community Shop’s new report. It calls on the government to take a holistic, ‘person-centred’ approach to tackle food insecurity at its root, end dependence on emergency food parcels, and to focus food policies on outcomes not process.
A person-centred approach to food insecurity
Community Shop, the social enterprise arm of the UK’s leading surplus redistributor Company Shop Group, is advocating for a sustainable and scalable system that addresses food poverty by tackling the immediate need for access to food and moving away from short-term dependency.
Executive chairman of Community Shop, Gary Stott, said, “The food insecurity crisis cannot be solved by emergency food parcels and other short-term fixes, such as food banks. We urge the government to tackle the root causes of food insecurity by… prioritising dignity and sustainability, and moving away from short-term sticking plasters. Community Shop’s person-centred model, refined over the last 10 years, has delivered transformational outcomes for over 72,000 families.”
Scott further commented on the meaning and importance of a ‘person-centred approach’ to the food insecurity crisis, “unlike traditional food aid models, we focus on what is strong in people and communities, not what is wrong… maintaining the closest possible experience to mainstream retail. This approach ensures that food, which is often seen as the problem, becomes part of the solution.”
Policy recommendations
The report includes six key policy recommendations which outline the step change needed to address both food insecurity and food waste at scale in the UK:
- Beyond emergency food parcels: emergency food parcels cannot provide a sustained solution to food insecurity. The Labour Government, in its 2024 manifesto, committed to ending the use of emergency food parcels. To achieve this, support must transition away from food banks towards self-sustaining organisations and social enterprises, with long-term help offered to those who need it.
- Outcome-focused food security policy: food policies should focus on outcomes, not processes, and avoid favouring charities and grassroots bodies over businesses and social enterprises. Incentives, such as VAT relief, should be offered based on the act of donating surplus.
- Holistic support tackling the root causes: tackling food insecurity should go hand-in-hand with the delivery of longer-term financial, educational, training and wellbeing support, to ensure people involved retain agency, are treated with dignity, and ultimately are empowered to improve their circumstances permanently.
- Mandatory food waste reporting: the government should mandate food waste reporting in line with the food waste hierarchy with realistic timescales for implementation, incentivising businesses and clearly signposting the full range of services available for surplus management.
- Accelerate progress towards a circular economy: Government and industry must acknowledge that charitable and not-for-profit redistribution cannot solve the food waste challenge in isolation and that equal support should be given to commercial redistribution.
- Physical infrastructure for food-aid: food aid provision works best when delivered through physical infrastructure such as shops which anchor support in the community, contribute to urban regeneration, and support the local economy through the creation of paid roles. To support this, new powers are needed for local authorities to take over any unused building in deprived areas to put them to community use.
The white paper features contributions from industry experts Dr Christina Holweg, Andrew Forsey OBE and Dr Clive Black plus a foreword from long-time supporter and advocate for the power of food in communities, Ainsley Harriott MBE. Community Shop is supported by hundreds of stock partners including Aldi, Asda, Iceland, McCain, M&S, Nestlé, Ocado and Samworth Brothers.
Gary Scott commented on these recommendations, noting that ‘[the] government must lead a fundamental shift in how we approach food insecurity,’ starting with acknowledging that ‘the emergency food parcels and other short-term fixes cannot be a sustainable solution’. The Labour Government, in its 2024 manifesto, committed to ending the use of emergency food parcels.
In order for this to be successful, Scott said, “policy should focus on outcomes rather than processes, giving equal support to businesses and social enterprises that deliver positive impact, building on the ‘outcome-focused food security policy’ that is called for in the community shop’s report.
When asked what such policies could practically look like, Scott suggested giving “new powers for local authorities to utilise unused buildings for community food projects”. This would allow local council’s to make decisions for their constituents on a case-by-case basis, placing the people at the centre of decision making.
Food waste redistribution and the Company Shop Group
The report also calls on government to mandate food waste reporting, in line with the food waste hierarchy, with realistic timescales for implementation. Alongside this, it must be recognised that charitable and not-for-profit redistribution cannot solve the food waste challenge in isolation and that equal support should be given to commercial redistribution. Only by incentivising businesses, and clearly signposting the full range of services available for surplus management, can the move towards a circular economy be accelerated with the required scale.
Retailers such as Aldi, Asda, and others have a unique opportunity to lead transformative change in food surplus redistribution through their significant reaches and resources. Gary Scott highlighted how “through Company Shop Group’s work, we’ve demonstrated the commercial viability of this approach,” Illustrating that businesses can support food surplus redistribution while reinforcing their social responsibility. The successful partnerships with Ocado and McCain exemplify this approach. McCain’s support, for instance, contributed to the opening of the Community Shop Eastfield store near its Scarborough headquarters, which provides invaluable support to hundreds of local families.
By collaborating with Company Shop Group and investing in infrastructure such as redistribution hubs, retailers and other businesses across the UK supply chain can create social, environmental, and economic value from surplus food that otherwise go to waste. This commitment to food surplus redistribution not only addresses food waste but also builds stronger local economies and fosters the long term solutions the Community Shop has called for.
