Charities say unsold food from Tesco is now harder to collect

Tesco is facing criticism from "shocked" charities that say they are struggling to distribute unwanted food to homeless and hungry people after, they claim, the retailer brought in rules that mean unwanted food can only be collected in the evening.

- Sarah Butler

The supermarket group has switched to a new system that asks charities to pick up unwanted food, such as items reaching their best before date, only in the evening when a store is closing rather than the next morning, the charities say.

Seven local groups, including Food for Charities in Oxford, Abingdon Community Fridge and the Zero Carbon Guildford Community Fridge, have written to Tesco warning that surplus food is no longer going to the people who need it the most, leaving some groups now buying food instead to distribute to homeless people. They have also launched a petition calling on Tesco to rescind the changes.

"Most of us struggle to find volunteers to pick up in the evenings. Most of our charities do not have recipients for 'evening food' such as meat and sandwiches because we close our doors before the Tesco food is available," the letter to Tesco says.