Marks & Spencer has invited an influencer who exposed shocking food waste at several of its stores on Instagram and TikTok for coffee to “hear more about what you are finding”.
In a direct message to anonymous social media campaigner Food_waste_inspector, from the supermarket’s main Instagram account, the retailer said it was “looking into everything you’ve posted” and that it would “love to come and meet with you”.
Last week, The Grocer reported M&S had launched an investigation after the vigilante ‘inspector’ documented wheelie bins full of in-date food behind one of its stores.
Posts on the west London man’s channel showed eight bins full of unsold food and flowers outside an M&S store, as well as sacks full of bakery items. All the food products in the bins shown in the video – including sliced meat, whole chicken, potatoes and bakery items – were within date by several days.
An M&S spokeswoman told The Grocer: “It’s clear that at these stores something has gone wrong and we’re investigating that right now.”
In other videos posted on the channel – which purports to have been filmed at M&S in Harrow – Food_waste_inspector says that since he started exposing the food waste, the store had put padlocks on the bins. In another he says staff at M&S in Chiswick had been ordered to keep food bins within the store.
The man – who has close to 75,000 followers on Instagram and 64,000 on TikTok – said he will be accepting M&S’s offer to meet, “to talk all this over and show all my evidence”.
“I really hope we can come to an agreement to solve this issue and steps can be made to reduce this waste, and I thank them for reaching out,” he added.
Food_waste_inspector posted a screenshot of the direct message from M&S to his followers. One commented: “This is the kind of response we can only hope to have from big businesses to instigate positive change.”
“An incredible opportunity to meet with them and hear exactly what they have to say for themselves,” another wrote.
Late last week, Lidl become the second major retailer to launch an investigation after being exposed on social media for food waste at stores by the Food_waste_inspector account.
“The examples shared… are not representative of our broader food redistribution work,” a Lidl spokesperson said.
Food_waste_inspector has similarly documented apparent food waste at Waitrose stores, which is also investigating his findings.
The channel has launched a petition on Change.org calling for “legislation that mandates supermarkets to redirect edible surplus to food banks and charities”.
“By collaborating with supermarkets, NGOs, and local authorities, we can create a streamlined process that ensures safe and efficient distribution of surplus food. Such a law would not only combat food waste but also signal a commitment to humanity and environmental conservation,” the petition states.
It has so far gathered 8,470 signatures.
A second petition to parliament has also been launched, and is currently being verified to check it meets petition standards.
In 2016, France become the first country in the world to ban supermarkets from throwing away or destroying unsold food, requiring by law they donate it to charities and food banks.
The same year Italy introduced legislation meaning retailers don’t face sanctions for giving away food past its sell-by date, and pay less waste tax the more food they give away.
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