The UK’s two biggest food redistribution charities are merging, in a move they said would enable the food industry to tackle huge levels of food insecurity and waste in the supply chain.
FareShare and The Felix Project will unite, under the latter’s name, to form what they said would be a “bigger and more ambitious organisation with greater national impact”.
Supermarkets including Tesco and Sainsbury’s, who are among a raft of retailers that have worked with the charities on their food waste programmes, welcomed the move, saying it would provide greater co-ordination in the fight against hunger.
The latest figures from Wrap show the UK wastes 10.7 million tonnes of food, while a shocking 14% of UK households are facing food insecurity. The charities said they were facing rising demand to help frontline charities, who were struggling to keep up with demand for food.
By combining forces, the operations could support rescuing more food, cutting more waste and reaching more people, they said.
FareShare has been operation for 30 years and is the UK’s largest national food redistribution charity. It provides rescued good to eat surplus food to more than 8,000 charities nationwide, with a network of thousands of local volunteers.
In 2024/25 it provided the equivalent of 148 million meals.
The Felix Project was launched in 2016 by Justin and Jane Byam Shaw in memory of their son Felix. It has four depots in north, south, east and west London, which support around 1,200 community organisations and also operates Felix’s Kitchen, which uses surplus food to cook around 5,000 nutritious meals every day.
The charity has been working with FareShare as its London delivery partner since 2020.
The two charities said combining FareShare’s nationwide reach and strategic partnerships with Felix’s innovation and London expertise would create more collaborative and efficient ways of working and be part of a stronger, joined-up solution to tackling food waste across the UK.
This week’s announcement said the new charity would adopt the Felix name, with a refreshed brand identity to introduce gradually as part of a phased transition, including a period of dual branding.
Charlotte Hill, who has led The Felix Project to significant growth over the past three years, will become chief executive of the new organisation.
She said: “Our vision is a nation where no good food is wasted and nobody goes hungry. Bringing together brilliant colleagues, volunteers and partners from both organisations gives us an unprecedented opportunity to scale up food provision for the UK’s most vulnerable communities.”
Kris Gibbon-Walsh, CEO of FareShare, who will take the role of deputy chief executive, said: “This merger will enable us do so much more to tackle food waste at source, whilst we continue to support our brilliant independent network partners through increased food volumes, funding and operational support. We will also build on FareShare’s 30-year legacy of connecting good food with communities nationwide.”
Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts welcomed the merger.
“We’ve worked closely with both FareShare and The Felix Project for many years, and their merger marks an important milestone in the fight against food waste and hunger. By coming together, they’re creating a stronger, more united organisation, one that offers the food industry a clear route to long-term impact and collaboration,” he said.
“This is about more than streamlining processes: it’s about building enduring partnerships that help us do the right thing, not just for today’s communities but for generations to come. We’re proud to support their vision and look forward to deepening our work together.”
Tesco chief communications and sustainability officer Christine Heffernan added: “At a time when food is still wasted across the supply chain and communities have a great need for food, this is something that Tesco are proud to support and will help reach even more people.”
The move was also welcomed by the Coronation Food Project, which was set up by King Charles two years ago to work with the industry on ramping up its provision of surplus food for redistribution.
Martina Milburn, its executive chair, said: “The Coronation Food Project has worked closely with both FareShare and The Felix Project over the past two years.
“Both charities already collaborate to ensure surplus food reaches communities in need. I am excited to see what more they can achieve as a united organisation. This is very welcome news.”
No comments yet