Red Tractor Fresh Produce members are invited to participate in FareShare’s scheme to avoid surplus waste.
As a trusted assurance scheme for UK farms and growers, Red Tractor standards set out how members should manage waste responsibly. Where waste cannot be used on farm, it must be disposed of legally and in a way that minimises contamination and pollution risks with registered waste carriers.
Helping growers meet environmental and social goals
This focus on responsible waste management complements efforts to divert fit-to-eat surplus fresh fruit and vegetables away from landfill and into organisations that are helping growers meet both environmental and social goals.
FareShare and The Felix Project have joined forces this year to become the UK’s largest food redistribution charity, working across the food industry to rescue surplus food and get it onto the plates of people in need. They work with 8,000 organisations supporting people in need around the UK. Each year an estimated 4.6 million tonnes of good to eat food is wasted across the UK’s food supply chain, with 2.9m tonnes of that waste occurring at the farm gate. At the same time, more than 1 in every 7 people in the UK don’t get enough to eat.
Helping to feed people in need
Giving your surplus fresh produce to FareShare and The Felix Project is a practical way to make a real difference. At Red Tractor, we understand the time, energy and resources that go into growing high-quality food. By working with these organisations, your hard-earned harvest can help to feed people in need, rather than going to waste.
Thanks to a grant from the government’s Tackling Food Surplus at the Farm Gate scheme, FareShare and The Felix Project have invested in infrastructure and logistics, improving their ability to store, process and redistribute fresh fruit and vegetables.
Supporting local communities
Diverting surplus produce is straightforward, and funding support is available to help cover costs such as harvesting, grading, and packaging. You can turn unsold produce into a positive story for your business, while supporting local communities.
Half of the food redistributed in 2025 was fresh fruit and vegetables. This allowed more local charities to provide healthier, more nutritious meals to those in need.
Holly Wright, East of England Regional Manager at FoodCycle, an organisation supported through the FareShare and Felix Project network, explains why fresh produce matters to the charity:
“Having a variety of different fruit and vegetables means our cooking team can come up with interesting recipe ideas and create balanced meals without relying on store-cupboard items to bulk out the meals.”
Tackling food poverty and food waste
FoodCycle provides community meals with the aim of tackling both food poverty and food waste, while fostering connections within local communities.
Tim Casey, of J&V Casey & Son, explains why he recently donated surplus crop to FareShare:
“We had got to the end of the leek season and found we were looking at a surplus, we also still had the staff available and able to work, so after a quick conversation with FareShare we agreed to harvest and load out several pallets of leeks, for which FareShare covered our costs to harvest, prep and outload. It meant the crop was used, and it saved us having to mulch the crops back in, with the additional cost and time that entails.”
Contact FareShare to discuss how you can make a difference: givefood@fareshare.org.uk