Aldi promises to donate all unsold fresh food in Northampton to charity on Christmas Eve

The supermarket chain - which is opening another store in Earl Street tomorrow (November 8) - is aiming to redistribute all spare fresh food from its stores in Northampton to local charities on Christmas Eve.

As part of the scheme, charities and food banks will be paired with local stores and can collect products such as fruit, vegetables, fresh meat, fish and bread after the store closes at 6pm.

Fritz Walleczek, managing director of corporate responsibility, said: “We’re starting our festive donations scheme even earlier this year to give as many charities as possible the opportunity to apply.

“We want to give something back to the communities that we serve at such an important time of year. Last year we were able to reach thousands of people across the UK, and some charities were even able to prepare fresh meals that fed families well into the New Year.”

Charities should contact Aldi’s corporate responsibility team at [email protected] before November 18 and give their organisation's name, charity number, organisation focus (eg. soup kitchen, food bank), contact details, and the postcode of the nearest three Aldi stores.

All charities that apply must be able to collect, store and distribute fresh food. Each store can be partnered with one charity only, and the pairings will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

This initiative is an extension of Aldi’s existing food donations partnerships. The supermarket works directly with FareShare and Company Shop throughout the year and has also pledged to reduce operational food waste by 50 per cent by 2030 as part of the Friends of Champions 12.3 network.