Announced on Tuesday, 10 June, the funding comes from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) as part of its Tackling Food Surplus at the Farm Gate programme.
Every year, an estimated 330,000 tonnes of edible food is either wasted or repurposed as animal feed before leaving farm gates, according to Defra. TBBT is one of twelve recipients of government funding, which aims to redistribute 19,000 tonnes of surplus food directly from farms to shelters, food banks, and charities across the country.
TBBT is a UK-based food redistribution charity working to combat food insecurity. According to the Food Foundation’s latest tracker (July 2024), 13.6% of the population currently experience food insecurity.
It delivers essential supplies to some of the UK’s most deprived communities. Through its network of 145 hubs nationwide, members can access a weekly shop worth £40 for just £8 - including ambient, chilled, and fresh produce.
Headquartered in Manchester, the charity operates food clubs from Northumberland to Maidstone, running 52 hubs across Greater Manchester and Cheshire, providing essential support to 31,590 local members.
The Tackling Food Surplus at the Farm Gate programme was launched to strengthen relationships between UK charities and farmers, helping ensure that surplus, edible produce that would ordinarily go to waste, reaches the plates of those in need.
TBBT says that this funding will enable it to utilise an under-tapped food system in its efforts to bring an end to food waste.
Mark Game, Founder of The Bread and Butter Thing said: “The investment will be used to expand logistics infrastructure including vehicles, refrigeration, and packing facilities and to strengthen on-the-ground relationships with growers, particularly in key agricultural areas.
“The funding will significantly enhance our ability to collect and redistribute surplus food directly from farms, preventing edible produce from going to waste and instead redirecting it to hard-working families in our network.
“This support will increase our operational capacity at farm level, enabling us to intercept additional surplus produce. By investing in infrastructure, we can now work more closely with farmers to unlock hard-to-reach produce that would otherwise go to waste, ensuring it reaches people who need it most.”
Grants totaling £13.6 million have been awarded as part of the new scheme, also going to City Harvest, FareShare UK, Food in Community, The Cedarwood Trust, WRAP, and Feedbank Global, among others.
For more information on The Bread and Butter Thing visit breadandbutterthing.org.