Five of the UK’s supermarket chains are joining forces for a nationwide fundraising campaign aimed at tackling food poverty and reducing supply chain waste.

The “Let’s make a meal of it” initiative will run throughout April across Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer, with customers encouraged to donate in-store or online. Every £1 raised will fund five meals for people facing hunger.

The campaign comes as part of a wider industry effort through the Alliance Food Sourcing (AFS) coalition, which aims to bring together around 50 food businesses to redirect surplus food from across the supply chain to charities.

However, despite ongoing demand, redistribution charities continue to face challenges around both food supply and transport costs.

“We believe that good food should be for everyone and are proud of our continued involvement in this campaign. It shows how working together as an industry can help drive meaningful change and tackle food poverty.” said Sainsbury’s CEO and president of IGD Simon Roberts.

Tesco managing director of UK Food Gordon Gafa said: “We’re happy to be supporting the ‘Let’s make a meal of it’ campaign for a second year, in collaboration with our fellow retailers. The money raised last year helped to provide more than 1.5 million meals to charities, so we look forward to seeing the impact of the campaign this year.”

AFS is targeting the estimated 4.6 million tonnes of food wasted annually before it reaches consumers, focusing on unlocking edible surplus created during production, packaging and distribution processes.

“We are committed to tackling food waste wherever it arises and are delighted to join this important industry initiative to rescue and redistribute surplus food to people in need,” added Morrisons CEO Rami Baitiéh.

Major suppliers and retailers are already adapting operations to support the initiative.

Examples include recovering surplus ingredients during production line changes, repackaging bulk food into usable formats, and redirecting products that fail cosmetic grading standards.

It is understood the coalition has delivered more than 10 million meals to date and is targeting 30 million annually by 2028.

Alongside sourcing more food, the industry is also piloting a logistics solution to reduce distribution costs. Led by Sainsbury’s in partnership with GXO Logistics and Baringa, the project uses spare capacity in delivery lorries to transport surplus food to charities.

The approach aims to address inefficiencies in freight utilisation, with studies suggesting around 30% of UK HGV miles run with unused space.

Funds raised through the campaign will support redistribution charities including FareShare and The Felix Project, which collectively supply thousands of frontline organisations.

The Felix Project and FareShare CEO Charlotte Hill added: “The Felix Project and FareShare already support 1.5 million people, yet we know there are millions more in need of our help.

“This campaign is an amazing example of how the sector can come together and make a huge difference. I hope as many people as possible show their support and help us continue to innovate, rescue more food and support more communities and people in need.”

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