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1stNovember 2017
Sainsbury joins the fight to reduce food waste in Norfolk
The Norfolk Waste Partnership is leading a campaign to reduce food waste in Norfolk after being chosen to run seven Sainsbury’s ‘Discovery Communities’ as part of the supermarket’s ‘Waste Less, Save More’ campaign. The Partnership has received a grant of £49,750 to carry out a variety of activities in seven areas of Norfolk; one in each council area to highlight the issue of food waste.
Working with Sainsbury’s, the already successful Norfolk Plan Eat Save campaign is being rolled out to each of the seven local Discovery Communities.
‘Waste Less, Save More’ was launched by Sainsbury’s in 2015 to help combat the growing issue of food waste. Following a 12-month trial in Derbyshire, the retailer has unveiled a further £1 million investment to support 147 UK-wide projects – which includes Norfolk’s seven Discovery Communities.
Norfolk’s grant from Sainsbury is part of a £1m worth of funding to support 147 UK-wide Discovery Communities as part of Sainsbury’s next phase of its food waste campaign.
The seven areas chosen to be Sainsbury’s ‘Discovery Communities’ as part of the supermarket’s Waste less, Save more campaign are: Watton & Carbrooke in Breckland, Thorpe St. Andrew in Broadland, Shrublands in Great Yarmouth, Downham Market in King’s Lynn & West Norfolk, Fakenham in North Norfolk, Heartsease & Tuckswood in Norwich, and Costessey in South Norfolk.
The Chairman of the Norfolk Waste Partnership, Cllr John Fisher said “The average family throws away £700 worth of food a year. By receiving this grant funding from Sainsbury’s we can offer advice to inspire householders to cut down on their waste and save on their food bills. We are delivering a combination of awareness raising events as well as practical cookery skills sessions, to inspire people to reduce their food waste and potentially save money on food shopping at the same time.”
Norfolk’s food waste Discovery Communities kicked-off this week with the launch of a network of seven Community Fridges. The first Community Fridge was unveiled in Watton on 1st November hosted by the Wayland Partnership. Other Community Fridges are being unveiled in Great Yarmouth (8th November), Fakenham (9th November) and Costessey (14th November) with a further three fridges to follow in Norwich, Downham Market and Thorpe St. Andrew.
Pop-up ‘Food Saver’ community events are taking place within each of the seven Norfolk Discovery Community areas together with work in primary schools.Householders are being encouraged to think about the food they buy, toplan meals and consider carefully how to store food to make it last longer at home. Creating meals from leftovers so as to prevent food going to waste will also form part of free cookery workshops being run locally by Norfolk Public Heath’s Joy of Food team.
Households in the seven Discovery Community areas will receive an 8-page newsletter which explains what’s happening in their local area and where to go for information about reducing or avoiding food waste.
Paul Crewe, Project Lead for Waste less, Save more, at Sainsbury’s, said: “We’ve learnt a huge amount as a result of our 12-month pilot and we are really excited to be rolling out the nextphase of Waste less, Save more across our 147 Discovery Communities. We’ve learnt a lot over the last 12 months about how we can help households waste less food and save money, but we’re now casting our net wider to see the innovative ways communities up and down the country tackle food waste.”
Food waste is a big issue in the UK. The average family throws away £700 worth of food every year and at the same time 4 million people in the UK are living in food poverty. Most food waste in the UK (4.1 million tonnes or 61%) is avoidable and could have been eaten had it been better managed.
Further details about Norfolk’s seven Discovery Communities can be found at or via Twitter and Facebook: @PlanEatSave @Recycle4Norfolk
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For media enquires please contact Paula Boyce, Principal Communications Officer, Norfolk Waste Partnership, on 07823 383552 or email
Member Contact: The Chair of the Norfolk Waste Partnership, Cllr John Fisher, is available for interview by contacting Paula Boyce.
Notes to Editors
1.The Norfolk Waste Partnership (NWP) is made-up of Norfolk’sCounty, District, Borough and City Councils working together to improve waste and recycling services for Norfolk’s residents and visitors. ‘Recycle for Norfolk’ is the public-facing brand of the NWP.
2.The councils involved are: Breckland Council, Broadland District Council, the Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk, Great Yarmouth Borough Council, North Norfolk District Council, Norwich City Council, South Norfolk Council and Norfolk County Council.
3.Further information about Sainsbury’s Waste less Save more programme can be found at:
4.Between now and February 2018, Recycle for Norfolk is installing seven Community Fridges located in: Watton, Thorpe St. Andrew in Norwich, Shrublands in Gorleston, Downham Market, Fakenham, Heartsease in Norwich and Costessey supported by Sainsbury’s plc. More information on the Community Fridge Network, including a map of fridge locations and advice for those interested in setting up a community fridge can be found at
5.Scheduled ‘Food Saver’ pop-up events where the public can learn more about avoiding food waste are taking place on 3rd November on Downham Market’s market, 8th November at Shrublands Adult & Youth Centre in Gorleston, 9th November on Fakenham market and 14th November at West Costessey Hall and Thorpe St. Andrew River Green on 3rd December. For details can be found here: