Driving change: 50 double decker buses’ worth of food waste saved in three years

Wonky and surplus food subscription service Earth & Wheat has saved 600 tonnes of food waste - the equivalent of 50 double decker buses in weight – in three years.

The FoodTech brand, which was set up by former university student James Eid, is celebrating its third birthday this week and has now set itself a target of saving 1,000 tonnes of food waste by the end of the year.

Now Earth & Wheat has bigger ambitions and wants to stop another 400 tonnes from going into landfill before the end of 2024. The food supplier works with independent bakeries by redistributing food in its ‘wonky bread’ boxes which would have otherwise been thrown out due to the item’s size, shape or colour due to strict standards by retailers.

Around 16 per cent of all UK food waste occurs at the point at which it is produced according to Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and it is this waste that Earth & Wheat seeks to save because ‘no good food should go to waste’.

Three years ago, Eid, a fourth-generation baker, started ‘rescuing’ baked goods from his own family bakery in Dunstable, Hertfordshire after witnessing the eyewatering amount of bread it was forced to throw out every day. He launched the world’s first ‘wonky bread box’ and sold 10,000 boxes in the first six weeks.

Earth & Wheat has grown exponentially since 2021 and now works with independent farms to help save vegetables from going to waste too which it packs in its unique ‘wonky bread and veg boxes’ as well as a selection of plant-based offerings too.

Eid, 22, said: “We’re delighted to be celebrating our third birthday at Earth & Wheat. It has certainly been a whirlwind three years! Earth & Wheat started as just a concept and our mission was to reduce food waste from the point at which it is created and help save the planet.

“Three years on, it is incredible to think that our efforts – thanks to the support of our wonderful wonky warrior customers – have resulted in us collectively being able to stop 600 tonnes of good food from going to waste.

“This is food that would have been thrown away even though there was absolutely nothing wrong with it and it still tastes delicious. It was just too big, too small, or too odd looking but through our mission, we’ve seen people change their mindset and the numbers we see sign up to our food waste rescue mission continue to grow.

“Now we want to try and rescue a total of 1,000 tonnes by the end of the year which we don’t think is too much to ask, so we look forward to this being our next challenge in 2024.”

Eid’s award-winning brand recently joined The King’s Coronation Food Project’s cause and donated 2,894 ‘meals’ to FareShare which saves good food from going to waste by redistributing it to frontline charities.