Brakes Group, a leading supplier to the foodservice industry, has won the Charity, Community and Environment category at the Hollis Sponsorship Awards 2011.
The award, which Brakes Group shares with charity partner FareShare, recognises the company’s work in reducing food waste by redistributing ‘surplus food’ to homeless and vulnerable people in Britain.
In 2010 Brakes Group entered a long-term strategic relationship with the FareShare community food network.
Every month, the company supplies food which has passed its exacting minimum shelf life, but still ‘in date’, for distribution to over 30,000 vulnerable people across 600 charities and organisations around the UK.
Brakes Group supplies healthy food that is easy and quick to prepare, from pre-prepared vegetables, to portion controlled desserts and chilled meat.
The partnership is part of a Corporate, Social and Environmental Responsibility (CSER) strategy which Brakes Group introduced last year. The framework focuses on five strategic ‘pillars’ to ensure the company makes a real and sustainable difference.
James Armitage, marketing director at Brakes Group said: “This award is a real endorsement of this partnership. The initiative has allowed us to help a worthwhile cause and reduce our environmental impact by redistributing food that would have previously been sent landfill. We look forward to developing our initiative with Fareshare in the future.”
FareShare is the UK’s only national food charity supporting communities to relieve food poverty. It redistributes food from the food industry to 600 local charities. In the first quarter of 2010 Brakes Group donated 50,000 meal equivalents a month to FareShare. As well as supplying food to local communities all over Britain the partnership allows Brakes Group to reduce its landfill costs resulting in less CO2 and methane being released into the atmosphere.
Lindsay Boswell, CEO of FareShare added: “The food provided by Brakes Group really makes a difference. It is exactly the kind of high quality food that the people we support really need. It enables the charities to provide nutritious meals to their clients – vulnerable people in real need of a healthy diet.
“We hope our relationship with Brakes Group will continue to flourish so that we can deliver this great food to even more people across the country.”
The Hollis sponsorship awards reward effectiveness and excellence across all sectors of the sponsorship industry and across all budget bands. The rigorous judging process examines the objectives, creativity and innovation of each entry and aims to find the best in each category.
FareShare
· FareShare, winner of ‘Britain’s Most Admired Charity’ 2010, redistributes quality surplus food from the food industry to 600 local charities across the UK, supporting homeless and other vulnerable people.
· The charity also provides training and education around the essential life skills of safe food preparation and nutrition, and warehouse employability training through FareShare’s Eat Well Live Well programme.
· Last year, the food redistributed by the charity contributed towards 6.7 million meals for vulnerable people. The charity runs 15 operations across the country and every day 29,000 people benefit from the FareShare service.
· Food companies working with FareShare include Nestlé UK, Sainsbury’s, Gerber Juice and Muller.
For more information on FareShare, please call Maria Olesen on Tel: 020 7394 2467 or email: maria.olesen@fareshare.org.uk
Brakes Group
With a turnover of over £2.6bn, Brakes Group is a leading supplier to the foodservice industry in the UK, Ireland, France and Sweden. The group comprises a family of specialist businesses which are able to deliver everything the caterer needs, including their very successful own brand ranges developed specifically for chefs.
Employing over 10,000 people, the group supplies a diverse customer base, which includes, independent pubs, restaurants and hotels, schools, hospitals, contract caterers and well known national chains.
Brakes Group has developed a clear customer focus and a strong understanding of the needs of the foodservice sector providing innovative products and services and is committed to improving both the environment and the communities it serves.