Charity proud of saving 100 tonnes of surplus food

Duane and Nikki Barrett set up Affordable Food Stoke in 2017 and it gained charity status three years ago

A Stoke-on-Trent charity saved more than 100 tonnes of surplus supermarket food from going to landfill in the past 18 months, its co-founder has said.

Nikki Barrett, who seven years ago set up Affordable Food Stoke with husband Duane Barrett, said the food was given to people in need instead.

She told BBC Radio Stoke they were very proud "all of this food has been saved and not wasted".

Ms Barrett added, however, that food near its sell-by date could perhaps be sold off by supermarkets for much lower prices instead.

"It's such a shame that supermarkets have this amount of waste in the first place, maybe there could be a better way of doing [things] - let's reduce it all to 10p," she said.

The base in Blurton gives out free food to thousands of families

Ms Barrett explained that the charity itself had to throw away about 1,500 kg of food since January because of its date or condition.

However, she expected the charity had saved much more than 100 tonnes since the start of 2023.

The charity gives out free food at its base on Meaford Drive, Blurton, during mornings from Tuesday to Saturday.

"Lots of people who are struggling to feed their families can come to us and have free food whether that's bread or fruit or vegetables or milk or eggs," she said.

"We rescue all this stuff so it doesn't go into landfill."

The charity estimated the saved food represented about 239,000 meals and was about the "same weight as 21 African elephants".

In addition, the organisation provides other services including emergency food parcels and a community cafe.

The charity praised the wider team and said the figures were "testament to everyone's hard work and dedication to our community and city."