Save-On-Foods Store Manager, Warren McGlone, sorts breads for the local food bank. (Charlene Tebbutt/paNOW Staff).

By Charlene Tebbutt

Food waste

Local grocery sees success with new food waste diversion program

Feb 22, 2019 | 3:52 PM

As local city councillors look at ways to divert food waste from hitting the landfill, some local grocery stores are already working to put food that can no longer be sold to good use.

It’s something many businesses strive for, but issues around liability and food storage have stalled efforts for some. Other stores have partnered with a national company to repurpose grocery items such as bread, produce, canned foods and meats.

Loop Resources helps direct food waste, or foods that have passed their shelf life in stores but are still useable, to local food banks, soup kitchens and other groups. In cases where food is no longer edible for humans, the food is diverted to farms.

The issue is one that Prince Albert City Council said the city will look into, at the urging of local groups and residents who have been calling for more options.

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Loop carries the liability for diverting the food and has been working exclusively with Save-On-Foods over the last year to help coordinate the program at stores across the country, including in Prince Albert.

The Prince Albert Save-On-Foods store has only been open for 10 months, but Store Manager Warren McGlone says the store is already diverting more than 50 per cent of its waste, working with the local food bank and a handful of other church and community groups, and passing other food items on to 21 area farms and homestead operations.

Pickup from the local Save-On-Foods happens each day, with between 30 per cent and 70 per cent of food items going to charity within the first hour, McGlone added.

“Nobody likes waste and we try and make sure that we recycle everything, not just food … The amount that we divert in this store is huge,” he said.

Save-On-Foods started working with Loop a year ago and has already surpassed its company-wide goal of reducing food waste by 50 per cent before 2025. The program has already been rolled out in 100 of their 170 stores.

“This is the best possible usage for food,” said Darrell Jones, president of Save-On-Foods. “Over 60 per cent of the food that’s produced in our country is wasted, so we’ve made a commitment in our company to do something about it.”

Save-On-Foods Store Manager Warren McGlone looks over packaged vegetables and salads destined for local charitable programs. (Charlene Tebbutt/ paNOW Staff).

Jaime White, director of new projects with Loop Resources, told paNOW that the program is looking to expand within other stores in the city and nationally as well. Representatives with Loop have also begun talks with other grocery store owners in Prince Albert, he added.

“We build the whole process around speed so that we can collect it quickly, we can triage it appropriately and we can divert it to the highest and best use,” White said of the program. “I think that nobody like to see food in the garbage … Not only is it not going into the landfill, it’s also going to the best of its ability in the community.”

Kerry Ramsdell with the Prince Albert Food Bank said the partnership with Save-On-Foods is one way the organization can help feed hungry families in the city.

“If we didn’t have cooperation with local stores in town, we wouldn’t have the bread supply, we wouldn’t have half of our food supply,” she said. “It’s a good connection that we’ve made.”

Both paNOW and the Save-On Foods chain are owned by Jim Pattison.

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Charlene.tebbutt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @CharleneTebbutt