Jake Quickenden serves football fans ‘food for thought’ to demonstrate the scale of food waste in the UK
Online sustainable grocer, Motatos, is passionate about fighting food waste and sells products that otherwise would have gone to landfill (due to bad packaging, short dated stock or more) for up to 60% less than the average supermarket.
So for Earth Day, the Motatos team took to the streets of Liverpool armed with 580 meals – the amount that one family throws away every year.
Joined by Northern lad, Jake Quickenden, the team were on a mission to give out free meals to hungry football fans on their way to the big game. Not only are Motatos trying to make a point about how much food waste is impacting our planet, they’re also showing how it impacts our pockets too as this amount equates to on average £60 a month going in the bin.
Joining the fight against food waste, TV personality Jake Quickenden, said: “When Motatos first approached me, I couldn’t believe how much money goes in the bin every month. And at times like this, saving matters for families. Becoming a Dad for the first time has made me more aware of the climate crisis and the future of our planet. Reducing food waste is an easy way to do that. If I’m honest, I’ve not always been the best at shopping sustainably in the past. All of us could do better. And Motatos take the hard work out of sustainable shopping.”
Motatos is an online grocer that sells well-known store cupboard staples like Heinz Beanz, John West Tuna, Pot Noodle and Uncle Bens for up to 60% less than the average supermarket. They do this by taking on products that otherwise risk ending up in landfill due to changes in packaging, seasonal changes or short best before dates.
Christobel Biella, Motatos UK Country Manager, said: “We’re on a mission to show the UK how much food is wasted every year. There’s a lot of conversation around best before dates and whose responsibility it is, and there’s a big education piece that’s needed to ensure that supermarkets aren’t profiting off of short sell by dates. At Motatos, we work collaboratively with those in the supply chain to take food that would have otherwise gone to waste – for things such as short sell by dates. Everything we sell is perfectly good to consume, it’s just that the supply chain can’t manage the product and that’s where we come in.”
“We’ve proven this model works already in the short time we’ve been in the UK. One shop with us saves on average 8.3kg of carbon – the equivalent of 1000 phone charges3. In the long term, more intervention is needed from the top down to ensure that sustainability is a priority and food waste can be reduced.”
