Surplus Supermarkets (selling edible food at low prices)
Food prices are soaring (sometimes due to oil, but not due to war). It’s because England uses so much oil due to big supermarkets that use lorries, pesticides, central distribution houses) and there are not enough walkable communities and community solar panels etc.
But the immediate danger is that many people (even though on full-time incomes) sometimes are having to visit food banks.
Some MPs have even suggested that such people should ‘budget better’, which just displays ignorance. You can’t just ‘roll up to a food bank’ and help yourself. You have to be referred by authorities, and prove that you cannot afford to eat well.
Food poverty campaigner Jack Monroe recently said how an elderly man had told her he had eaten a little toothpaste at night, to trick him into thinking he had eaten dinner. And many children are being sent to school with no breakfast, which obviously harms their ability to focus to study.
There are plenty of budget-friendly cookbooks on this site. But this post focuses on ‘surplus supermarkets’, a new idea that takes food that is still in-date, and then sells it at affordable prices, without having to register for food banks.
Each year, the UK throws away around 7 million tonnes of food. Yet over 9 million people (including 4 million children) don’t eat well, due to lack of access to healthy affordable food. And 2 million people are using food banks.
So it’s a no-brainer that if we get that good food to people who need it, that’s a double whammy problem solved.
Surplus food is usually discounted due to being past the ‘best before date’ that is still safe to eat, but not over the ‘use-by date (which is not safe). Read more on food safety for people and pets.
Support The Food Waste Inspector’s Petition
Food Waste Inspector posts photos online of good food that has been thrown out (he’s a bit of a ‘green guerilla’, taking his camera behind the scenes, when the supermarkets close).
His investigations led some major supermarkets in January 2026 to launch major investigations, after he posted photos of perfectly edible food being thrown in the bin (not even having been reduced in price).
All in a country where supermarkets make mass profits, and yet many people (especially children and older people) go hungry. The photos and videos included:
- Strawberries, potatoes and sausages being thrown out (in date)
- Cans of tuna being thrown out (not expiring until 2030).
- Bakery items and sliced meats (and whole chickens) being thrown, before expiry date.
His site and petition is now supported by tens of thousands of people, as he argues that this food should be donated to food banks:
Every day, countless individuals and families across our nation find themselves struggling to make ends meet. Bills pile up, and many are forced to make heart-wrenching choices, between paying for utilities or putting food on the table. Food Waste Inspector
Company Shop (14 surplus supermarkets)
Company Shop is an award-winning social enterprise, which sells surplus food in its own supermarkets, and deeply discounted prices. There are presently 14 branches:
- Athersley
- Beechwood
- Bewsey (Warrington)
- Eastfield (Scarborough)
- Goldthorpe
- Grimsby
- Halton
- Hoyland
- Kirkdale
- Knottingley
- Lambeth
- Stocking Farm (Leicester)
- Swarcliffe (Leeds)
- Tong Street (Bradford)
Affordable Membership Groceries
Your Local Pantry is a small membership supermarket (sign up, then choose at least 10 fresh, chilled and frozen food items, to save around £21 per week).
There are now 120 outlets nationwide (you can set one up, if there are none near you, running from churches, schools, community centres etc).
Member communities get a pantry handbook and documents, and access to marketing posters and bespoke software, to keep records of finances and volunteer training. Already there are over 44,000 members. Find a list of present locations (there are particular clusters in Merseyside, Manchester, Kent, London, the West Midlands, Reading and Portsmouth).
Community Grocery is another member grocery that redistributes surplus food, and keeps over 65,000 local families well-fed. With nationwide branches, it has so far saved over 5000 tonnes of food from going to waste.
Again you sign up (around £5) then shop several times a week to buy fresh fruit and veg, and grocery items. Anyone on low income is welcome to shop once daily (no proof of income required, it relies on honesty, and not taking advantage of others who need help).
This was set up after lockdown, when a local church that was delivering 60,000 meals to families in Manchester, found that people still needed help, when the pandemic ended.
