M&S Launches Creative Solution to Reduce Bakery Food Waste
Marks & Spencer has unveiled a groundbreaking initiative aimed at tackling food waste in its in-store bakeries. The retailer is now transforming unsold daily-baked bread into frozen garlic bread across selected stores, offering customers both value and sustainability.
Transforming Unsold Loaves into Tasty Treats
In participating locations, M&S takes baguettes, boules, and other bakery items that remain unsold by the end of the day and repurposes them into delicious frozen garlic bread. The process involves filling the bread with creamy garlic butter before freezing it, ready for customers to take home and enjoy.
Andrew Clappen, Technical Director at M&S Food, emphasized the company's commitment: "Our in-store bakers create the freshest, highest quality bread daily for our customers. We believe each loaf is too good to waste, and our customers agree. By getting creative, we've found a way to extend shelf life and create delicious products for our customers – at great value too, from £1."
Expanding Product Range and Availability
The frozen garlic bread selection includes classic Garlic Baguettes, Sourdough options, and even a cheesy West Country Cheddar & Red Leicester Garlic Cob. This initiative represents one of several ways M&S is working to reduce food waste directly in stores.
Clappen noted the program's success: "The response has been fantastic, and now is the time to roll out to more stores with more products. We're determined to keep finding innovative ways to tackle food waste, at source and in-store."
Broader Sustainability Commitments
This initiative aligns with M&S's ambitious sustainability goals under its Plan A roadmap. The company has pledged to halve food waste by 2030 and redistribute 100% of its edible surplus by 2025.
Catherine David, Director of Collaboration and Change at WRAP, praised the approach: "It's great to see a simple and effective idea grow in this way. Bread is the second most wasted food item in UK homes, with the equivalent of more than one million loaves binned every day. As a short shelf-life item, bread can also become surplus at the end of trading, so giving a second life to a surplus loaf is an excellent way to reduce waste, make our food go further, and feed families."
Additional Waste-Reduction Efforts
Beyond the garlic bread initiative, M&S has implemented other successful programs to combat food waste. The retailer's 25p ripe banana bags have proven particularly popular, with over half a million sold since their introduction.
Customers in Birmingham, Solihull, and other locations with participating stores can now find these frozen garlic bread products available for purchase, combining environmental responsibility with culinary enjoyment.
