The Bread and Butter Thing
The Bread and Butter Thing is a charity with a mission to make life more affordable for people on low incomes, tackling food insecurity and reducing food waste in the process. By providing food clubs that offer fresh produce at affordable prices, TBBT serves over 100,000 members, delivering more than 350,000 meals each week. They offer a lifeline to families struggling with the cost of living, saving an average of £25 per week for each household.
In early 2024, Wellocks approached The Bread and Butter Thing with a unique opportunity that would help tackle food waste while providing high-quality meals to those in need. Wellocks’ high-end prep kitchen creates a wide variety of food cuts from ingredients like potatoes, which are finely crafted for use in the UK’s finest restaurants. The process, however, generates misshapen or excess pieces that were previously discarded or used for animal feed or anaerobic digestion.
Led by our Sustainability Manager Nieves Lovatt, a solution was found to repurpose these surplus ingredients. Instead of going to waste, the misshaped potatoes—are packaged, labelled for collection and distributed to The Bread and Butter Thing members, ensuring they have access to nutritious, fresh produce.
Wellocks now supplies The Bread and Butter Thing with high-quality chopped, diced, wedge, and julienne potatoes, along with other surplus ingredients, on a weekly basis.
To date, this initiative has resulted in approximately 50 tonnes of food collected per week, 25 tonnes of which are potatoes. These potatoes alone account for 57,950 meals, saving an impressive 62,500kg of CO2 emissions from landfills.
Not only has this collaboration contributed to reducing food waste, but it has also helped alleviate food insecurity for thousands of individuals - supporting families in need across the UK.
The partnership has since expanded beyond potatoes. Wellocks, in collaboration with other companies within the William Jackson Food Group, has worked to distribute over 165 tonnes of short-dated or rejected bread from Jacksons Bakery. This initiative has resulted in the distribution of over 235,000 loaves to communities in the North West and North East of England.
Vic Harper, CEO at The Bread & Butter Thing
“We are thrilled to have partnered in such a unique way with Wellocks to provide ethical and environmental solutions to distribute surplus food to communities across the UK. This project exemplifies the power of collaboration in addressing two critical issues—food waste and food insecurity—while making a lasting impact on the environment. Together, we are helping build stronger, more sustainable communities.”