Nestlé and food charities pilot first of a kind redistribution solution

A cross-industry consortium, including food giant Nestlé UK&I and major redistribution charities, has successfully piloted an artificial intelligence solution that promises to “transform the food sector” by turning real-time manufacturing data into hundreds of thousands of meals for UK communities.

The 16-month AI-led food waste project, supported by a £1.9 million BridgeAI grant from Innovate UK, brought together nine partners — including Zest, FareShare, Company Shop Group, and Sustainable Ventures — to de-risk the use of AI in mapping and redistributing unavoidable food surplus.

The pilot used Zest’s AI-led solutions, built on Google Cloud, to connect fragmented data points across Nestlé manufacturing lines. By identifying exactly where surplus was generated in real-time, the project successfully redistributed 201.9 tonnes of food—the equivalent of 480,529 meals.

The impact was felt across the country, with the surplus supporting an estimated 94,133 people through 787 charities and community groups. Beyond the social impact, the AI proved its commercial viability; in one trial, the technology newly identified 4.8 tonnes of edible surplus on a production line that was sold for human consumption rather than animal feed, resulting in a 15-fold increase in revenue from that surplus.

“It’s been fantastic to be part of this pilot project which has helped us turn data into action, reduce food waste while strengthening our ability to redistribute surplus food to where it’s needed most,” said Claire Antoniou, head of end to end transformation at Nestlé UK & Ireland. “This exciting cross-industry initiative could go on to benefit a whole industry.”

Fragmented data has traditionally made manual waste assessment slow and inconsistent. The Zest AI platform acted as an “intelligence layer,” seamlessly matching Nestlé’s edible surplus with the real-time capacity of FareShare and Company Shop Group, while logistics partner Howard Tenens fulfilled the deliveries. Trials indicated that the AI-led process halved the speed of manual assessments while quadrupling the amount of food surplus identified.

Dini McGrath, founder and CEO of Zest, noted that managing surplus is no longer optional. “This project proves that eradicating waste is no longer just ‘the right thing to do,’ it is a fundamental business imperative for any manufacturer looking to remain competitive in an increasingly margin-constrained market,” McGrath stated.

A White Paper produced by Sustainable Ventures following the pilot recommends the adoption of a single, unified surplus redistribution platform to reach a “critical mass” of supply and demand.

Charlotte Hill, CEO of FareShare and The Felix Project, emphasised the urgency of the technology: “At a time when demand for food support is at an all-time high, it is essential to come together and explore the real-life benefits of the next generation of technology. Innovative tools such as those used to quickly map surplus have the potential to transform the food redistribution sector.”

As the industry looks toward 2027, the consortium hopes this AI factory model will become the blueprint for a more resilient, zero-waste UK food system.

Case study

St Paul’s Community Pantry in Sheffield is one of over 270 charities receiving weekly deliveries via FareShare Yorkshire’s redistribution centre. They were amongst a number of projects that received products from the project including breakfast cereals, chocolate and drinks as a result of the project.

Tina Sampson-Smith, St Paul’s Community Pantry said: “We’d be lost if we didn’t have FareShare; the food really diversifies the offerings in our area and helps families maintain a balanced diet. During the winter, we give out food packs to the elderly with things like coffee, hot chocolate, soup and also warming breakfast cereals.

“Recently, we made sure to give them some really nice porridge that came through from FareShare that had a bit of golden syrup in it. Often you’d go to an elderly person’s house and discover that they’re too frightened to put the heating on and they don’t have enough food, because of the cost of living crisis.”