The National Endeavour to End Avoidable Food Waste

The Bread and Butter Thing is proud to be part of the National Endeavour to End Avoidable Food Waste, a major new collaborative effort bringing together government, business, charities, philanthropy and the wider food industry behind a shared ambition to reduce food waste and strengthen communities.

Built through the leadership and convening power of Number 10, and inspired by the leadership of His Majesty The King, the initiative marks the first time the UK redistribution sector has come together behind a single shared plan to help triple the amount of surplus food redistributed across the country.

The plan recognises surplus food redistribution as one of the key pillars in tackling avoidable food waste, alongside wider work around household food waste and improved data and technology.

The Bread and Butter Thing has worked alongside organisations including City Harvest, Community Shop, FareShare/The Felix Project, Feeding Britain, His Church, IGD, Neighbourly, Trussell and the Xcess Network to help shape the shared approach.

For us, this is about far more than food.

Every week, we see how affordable food can act as preventative infrastructure in communities under pressure. It creates breathing space for families managing rising costs, helps older people stay connected, supports healthier diets and allows community organisations to focus on wider support around debt, housing, wellbeing and resilience. This reflects our long-standing position that food clubs are about prevention, dignity and community resilience, not simply emergency response.

At Bread and Butter, over 90% of our members say they save money when shopping with us, while almost three quarters say they now feel more connected to their local community. Our insight work consistently shows that many households are not in sudden crisis, but are living under sustained financial pressure with very little room for unexpected costs.

That is why scaling redistribution matters.

At a time when food prices continue to rise and more households are struggling to balance everyday budgets, increasing the amount of edible surplus food reaching communities can play an important role in helping people stay afloat before problems escalate further.

The National Endeavour also reflects something important about the redistribution sector itself. No one organisation can achieve this ambition alone. Success depends on collaboration across charities, retailers, manufacturers, growers, logistics providers, local communities and government. The willingness of organisations across the sector to come together around a shared plan demonstrates both the scale of the opportunity and the seriousness of the challenge ahead.

We are committed to that collective effort, and we will continue working with our partners across the country to ensure more good food reaches people, rather than going to waste.