Lidl Northern Ireland Announces Nationwide Roll Out of ‘Waste Not’ Fruit and Veg Boxes

Date published: February 16, 2023

New food waste initiative set to save 1,170,000kgs tonnes of food waste per year whilst offering even more savings to shoppers

Lidl Northern Ireland has become the first supermarket retailer to implement a national rollout of a major new initiative aimed at reducing food waste and bringing shoppers even more savings at the tills.

Lidl Northern Ireland’s new Waste Not Fruit and Veg boxes initiative sees the retailer box up to 7kg of mixed fruit and vegetables which have come from multi packs where other produce has become slightly damaged, discoloured or deteriorated, but are still perfectly good to eat. Priced at just £2.50, each box has a retail value of £5 – 8, offering shoppers significant savings on fresh, healthy fruit and vegetables.

The initiative was launched today after a successful trial period, which launched in September 2022, saw over 3,700 Waste Not boxes sold and prevented 10,000kg tonnes of food going to waste locally. It is estimated that the nationwide rollout will save a further 1,170,000kgs tonnes of food waste per year.

Conor Boyle, Regional Managing Director Lidl Northern Ireland, said;

“Lidl Northern Ireland’s new Waste Not Fruit and Veg Boxes initiative are a great way for customers to kick off the new year with healthy eating and healthy savings habits. Crucially, the initiative plays a significant role in our overarching sustainability strategy and helps protect the planet and our local communities by helping combat the important issue of fresh food going to landfill.

“Our dedicated team of Freshness Specialists ensure that the fruit and vegetables included in the boxes are of the high quality that customers have come to expect when shopping with Lidl Northern Ireland, and we look forward to seeing more shoppers benefit from this scheme which has already been so well received.”

The initiative is the latest move by the retailer to further its ambitious sustainability strategy and is an extension of Lidl Northern Ireland’s established ‘Waste Not’ initiative which reduces food waste across its store network by 137,500kg annually. Launched in 2019, the scheme offers customers a significant price reduction on a range of chilled food products that have reached their best before date, but are still perfectly fresh and fine to eat.

Lidl Northern Ireland’s Waste Not Fruit and Veg Boxes are the ideal solution for those looking to achieve a balance of eating a healthy diet while also saving money. Boxes are picked and packed daily by the discounter’s dedicated in-store Freshness Specialists who conduct freshness checks on produce three times a day across all stores.

Available to customers daily until midday, any unsold boxes are then donated to local good causes through Lidl Northern Ireland’s partnership with FoodCloud, an organisation that connects businesses with charities and communities to redistribute their surplus food. Lidl Northern Ireland has been working with FoodCloud since 2017 and through this partnership has redistributed the equivalent of over 3 million meals to charities across the region.

For more information visit www.lidl-ni.co.uk