FareShare fanfare Booker

BOOKERNEWS

NEWS, ACHIEVEMENTS AND OPINIONS FROM ACROSS BOOKER

BOOKER DISTRIBUTES 1.8 MILLION MEALS AMONG UK NEEDY IN 2021

Working with the FareShare network of charities Booker has redistributed 773 tonnes of food to the needy, enough to provide the equivalent of 1.8 million meals.

Booker redistributed over 773 tonnes of food to communities across the UK in 2021, the equivalent of more than 1.8 million meals. Working with FareShare, the UK’s biggest charity fi ghting hunger and food waste, Booker is the fi rst wholesaler to redistribute food directly to FareShare’s network of charities through the FareShare Go programme and the free sharing app OLIO.

OLIO’s ‘Food Waste Heroes’ collect food directly from Booker and Makro branches, which is then added to its app for local people to collect.

In 2021, Booker helped an astonishing 3,792 individual charities through its work with FareShare. Over 8,600 families were fed and almost 550,000 individuals were supported.

The activity also helped deliver enormous environmental improvements. Well over 2,000 tonnes of CO2 was prevented from going to waste, more than 1.6 billion litres of water were saved and some 2.6 million road miles were prevented. All in all, that’s the equivalent of planting 35,500 trees! Catherine Marston, Head of Sustainability at Booker said: “These are some impressive achievements but it’s worth noting that Booker only started working with FareShare in April 2021 in a phased launch. It wasn’t until October 2021 that all 198 Booker branches were fully involved – so we expect the results to be even more impressive in 2022 when we have a full year’s activity across all branches to report."

773 2,063

tonnes

tonnes CO2 prevented from going t0 waste

1.8

million meals

1.6

billion litres water saved

3,792

charities

2.6

million cars miles off the road

OLIO

8,600 local families fed

FARESHARE

549,000 people supported

35,500

trees planted

CASESTUDY GLYN CEIRIOG

Glyn Ceiriog is a voluntary support organisation run by Community Agent Davena Davies who works out of the local community hall in Glyntraian near Wrexham. It supplies food packages to anyone that is struggling to buy food themselves and supports between 60 and 80 people.

During the festive period, with a lot of other local organisations closed for the holidays, Davena was offered extra food by Booker Wrexham for a special Christmas community dinner.

“Everyone loved it and we were able to supply it for free,” said Davena. “They were very, very grateful that they were able to enjoy a Christmas dinner. The food we receive through FareShare and Booker is very important."

Have you been working hard to reduce your carbon footprint and reduce the environmental impact of your business? Share your stories with us by emailing catering@booker.co.uk.

BOOKER BUTCHERS AWARDED HIGHEST BUTCHERY HONOUR

Three Booker butchers joined the elite ranks of Institute of Meat-accredited Master Butchers at their annual prizegiving last month.

ROY MASON

PETER HOWARTH LETITIA REDFERN

KEVIN KING

Booker's renowned butchery team further enhanced its reputation and accreditations at Butchers Hall on London on 24 February as three Booker butchers joined the elite ranks of Institute of Meat (IoM) accredited Master Butchers. Peter Howarth, Kevin King and Roy Mason all joined the hallowed ranks of Master Butchers.

The new Master Butchers were honoured at the IoM's annual prizegiving last month. The event has been running for almost 30 years and was attended this year by HRH The Princess Royal. The prizegiving seeks to celebrate and reward individual achievement in the meat and poultry industry.

Keith Fisher, Chief Executive of the IoM, said: "Being granted accredited Master Butcher status is one of the highest accolades a butcher can achieve. In almost three decades of the prizegiving we have accepted less than 60 applications.

"The process of assessing an application is rigorous and in fact we only consider applications from the most experienced and skilful butchers."

Also recognised at the event was Booker apprentice Letitia Redfern who won the Best Apprentice award who was presented with her certificate of achievement by HRH The Princess Royal.

HERTFORDSHIRE CATERERS SCOOP MAKEOVER PRIZE

Caterers Steven and Harriet Mitchell have won a £5,000 prize after winning a competition run by Cadbury. The pair, who own The Orchard Café at Letchworth Sports & Tennis Club, were named as one of the lucky winners of Cadbury UK’s recent ‘Make It Yours’ competition. Caterers who purchased participating packs of selected Cadbury and Bourneville drinking chocolate lines were given the chance to win the prize towards a premises or equipment upgrade as well as thousands of hot chocolate kits.

Thanks to their win, Steven and Harriet have been welcoming diners into their new-look café after investing their winnings in upgrading all their chairs, stools and tables. Commenting on the win Harriet said: “We chose to upgrade our furniture with the cash. We've never won anything and are all still in state of shock, so thank you so much Cadbury! "The chairs and stools have made a big impact and we are getting lots of wonderful comments.”