That shitty press they’ve been getting might have had more to do with the CEO’s decision but this is to be welcomed even if we’d prefer to live in a society where no-one had to rely on charity to survive.
So Asda, Sainsbury, Morrisons, Waitrose etc – your move, muddyfunsters.
Just checking – is that the same Tesco that was…
a. Vilified for ‘crowding out local shops for local people’ through its heartless expansion programme
then more recently
b. Vilified for ‘abandoning local communities’ through its heartless store closure programme?
Yup that’s the one – one step forward, three steps back n all that
The local shop – there’s nothing for you here
To be fair to Tesco they have been doing this for some years. At my office we get a delivery from FareShare , usually of Tesco goods, every fortnight which we redistribute to communities we are involved with.
Our local Tesco superstore has also been instrumental in collecting food for the local foodbank.
And yes, we shouldn’t need charity and we shouldn’t need foodbanks.
At my local Tesco they just leave the leftover food on the shelves.
That’ll be Tesco Lotus then. And yes, yes they do.
There’s a coincidence – I’m just in the middle of reading Andrew Simm’s Tescopoly. It’s safe to say that the supermarket chain doesn’t come out smelling of roses on many fronts. It was written in 2006, so things may have changed since then, but I doubt it.
It’s good if they are giving away unsold food, but the way he described how they exploit their suppliers and destroy their competition doesn’t give me much faith in this as anything other than a damage limitation exercise.
Here he is, talking about the book:
Yes, well done Tesco, but it’s the least they could do. The problem isn’t so much the supply as the distribution, and Tesco is telling charities to come and pick up food from stores. If only there was an organisation with thousands of small, temperature-controlled vans, perhaps sporting a lively orange and white livery, endlessly circulating around towns, which could ensure the food reached those who need it with no health threat and no reliance on a fleet of volunteers. Who could do that?
[Disclaimer: The above statement recognises the veracity of the ideological view that you shouldn’t discuss feeding starving people on the grounds that they shouldn’t be starving in the first place. The writer is indulging himself in short-term pragmatism in recognition of the quirk of human biology which means that sustenance may be required before the global redistribution of scare resources, over population, and the political, social, economic, educational and cultural issues which affect food distribution have been resolved. OOAW.]
A Grocer Writes: I was been employed in the multiple retail grocery sector for over 30 years, and it is going to be interested in how this is gonna work. As it stands right now it is against to sell/give away/allow to be stolen any food stuffs that are past their “sell by date”.As I understand it, TESCO will notify local charities “at the end of the day” that stuff will be available for collection, and anything not picked by local charities will be disposed off in the old way, as it would be leaving itself open to prosecution should it still be available the following day. Now all this presupposes that charities will have some people available late at night 7/7 to pick the stock up and have the appropriate means to store it overnight. Now having had shedloads of experience in working for these guys, the cynic in me suggests that TESCO know this scheme is fraught with difficulties and the whole shebang is just a publicity stunt. Finally, let’s not get too dewy eyed over TESCO having a food bank collection zone in their premises either… remember it is the customers who are donating and TESCO are pocketing the profit, thank you very much.
I’d rather they focused their attention on getting their sushi selection included in the £3 meal deal.
Priorities Tesco, priorities.
Yeh Jim, it’s a bit fishy that, I agree.
BTW apparently Waitrose and Sainsbury already do this project Tesco are suggesting. I was not aware of this so I remove them from my list but Asda n Morrisons – what up, bitches?