Oxford Food Hub found it saves more than £1m of surplus food a year from landfill after expert practitioners of The Unipart Way helped measure produce coming through the charity’s warehouse.

Volunteers from Unipart Logistics in Cowley worked at the food bank’s Botley site to weigh how much surplus food from local wholesalers and supermarkets is being redistributed free of charge to over 100 charities in Oxfordshire.

Over seven days Oxford Food Bank received 7.4 tonnes of surplus food with a retail value of nearly £20,000.

Accurate information about the amount of food redistributed will help Oxford Food Hub engage with the community and ultimately raise more much-needed funds.

Unipart is committed to supporting local communities where it operates.

Hayley Dry, Unipart Group Cowley charity committee chair, said: “We’re delighted to have Oxford Food Hub as our nominated charity. Improving efficiency and reducing waste are at the core of Unipart’s principles, expressed through our philosophy The Unipart Way, making our support of Oxford Food Hub a natural fit.

“Our Unipart Logistics colleagues in Cowley have already volunteered their expertise at Oxford Food Hub and shown we can add real value to their objective to redistribute surplus food to Oxford’s most vulnerable people.

“There is terrific enthusiasm amongst Unipart employees to raise money for charity and we will be encouraging them to fundraise for Oxford Food Hub.”

Oxford Food Hub redistributes fresh food with a short sell by date such as fruit, vegetables, dairy and baked goods, which makes it different from most other food banks which handle longer life goods. Their volunteers deliver this fresh produce to other charities, most of whom are cooking meals for their own clients, for example, homeless shelters, mental health charities, children’s groups, dementia clubs, hospices and schools.

Cathy Howard, Manager of the Oxford Food Hub, said: “We’re immensely grateful to Unipart for all their help, but particularly so for the data on our collections. This is hard evidence for the incredible achievements of our volunteers, who work tirelessly seven days a week to keep quality, unsold fresh food out of landfill”.