Charities working in partnership with companies must reserve their right to slam
John Thompson | 22 October 2013 | Blogs
Barely a day goes by when we’re not reminded that, despite being a highly developed and relatively wealthy nation, huge numbers of people across the UK are relying on food banks to help make ends meet. For example, The Trussell Trust, one of the most high profile operators, handed out 350,000 supplies from its 400 food banks between April and September this year.
This sorry state of affairs has also seen the formation of some high profile corporate-community initiatives to help address the problem. For example, for three days in November, British Red Cross volunteers at Tesco stores across the UK will collect food donations and encourage shoppers to buy extra items to give to FareShare, the UK charity supporting communities to relieve food poverty. This will be the first time since WWII that the Red Cross has distributed food aid to those in need.
Cue much appreciation for big brands coming together to feed needy people.
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Hot on the heels of this announcement, however, Tesco has published its first ever food waste survey, revealing its stores and distribution centres generated nearly 30,000 tonnes of food waste in the first six months of 2013. Additionally, and signalling a possible end to all BOGOF offers, it found that 68 per cent of bagged salad is wasted and 35 per cent of this waste occurs in the home.
Cue much slamming from Oxfam and Friends of the Earth.
On that slamming, in today’s Marketing Week Oxfam is reported as dubbing the amount of food that gets wasted a “scandal”, while Friends of the Earth says it needs to go much further in tackling the issue. Other retailers screamed “welcome to the party”, whilst brandishing their own food waste brownie points.
Cue much lashing of Tesco on social media for being an evil food wasting, charity-manipulating monster.
But what intrigued me most were the more measured comments from its charity partner Fareshare, with Caley Eldred, Director of fundraising and marketing saying: “We welcome Tesco’s decision to acknowledge waste in the system. This is a difficult subject to talk about publicly. But the industry needs to be more practical about waste and find more ways to make sure use of food that would otherwise be wasted.”
Notice the positive comment about Tesco and how the focus then shifts from Tesco towards a semi-slam of grocery retailing in general?
I’ve no idea whether Tesco’s food aid partners were briefed in advance of today’s revelations, or agreed soundbites, but it strikes me that the more the company makes moves towards being more responsible and transparent the louder its critics become – and the harder they slam.
But surely there’s a need for a balanced response that recognises a positive leap off the very naughty step whilst encouraging a climb towards the top of the stairs – with the prospect of a slam if they don’t. Furthermore, we mustn’t forget our responsibility as consumers when it comes to food waste. If you don’t need it, don’t buy it. However, of course, when companies mess-up with “puppies for Christmas”, only a powerslam and a good old moonsault will do.
In conclusion , I feel that charities that take a collaborative approach to working in partnership with companies, whilst reserving the right to slam, are more likely than pure slammers to move companies towards more sustainable business models.
John Thompson, Changing Business
Twitter: @jtchangingbiz
Sources
- Tesco tackles food waste, 21st October 2013
- Charities slam Tesco over food waste ‘scandal’ – Marketing Week, 21st October 2013
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About John Thompson
John Thompson is a fundraising consultant with particular expertise in cause-marketing, sponsorship, strategy development, partnership marketing and executive recruitment. A blogger on UK Fundraising since 2006 with a background in corporate fundraising and public relations.