Starbucks has announced a decision to chop their food prices in half – but only at the end of the day.
The move is aimed to combat food waste, helping to sell items which are close to their sell-by date before they have to be thrown away.
New prices at end of trading
During the last hour in which 350 of the Starbucks stores in the UK are open, food which is near to its expiry date will be sold at 50% off. Those in food jobs at the chain will be able to offer a markdown on the items which would normally have to be thrown away in the morning.
The bargain prices will also be helping a good cause, by fighting against food waste. The retail industry sees a high rate of waste, and the company reasons that it is a better idea to sell the food at a discount than to simply have to throw it away, thus losing any profit at all.
Not only that, but Starbucks have added another silver lining to the rescue of food that would be destined for the bin. The entire profits made from the sale of each item will be donated to Action Against Hunger. This leading humanitarian organisation fights against hunger around the world, by providing nutrition for malnourished children around the globe. This is a serious humanitarian effort, and will likely create a huge fund for the charity to work with.
Successful trial period
The project was first trialled in 16 of the Starbucks stores in Manchester earlier in 2017. Thanks to this successful trial, bosses of the company decided to go ahead and expand the initiative to 350 stores across the UK.
Feedback during the trial was positive, with £1,500 being donated to Action Against Hunger over the course of just 11 weeks. The food workers in the stores also responded positively to the trial, feeling that they were contributing to a greater cause.
“Tackling a challenge like food waste is not an easy one, but we’re proud to have developed a programme which will deliver for the long term. Off the back of the success of our Manchester trial, we’re pleased to roll out this programme to the rest of our company owned British stores, and will be working with our franchise partners to see where else this programme could work as well,” said Simon Redfern, head of communications at Starbucks Europe. “Action Against Hunger is a respected international charity, and we’re looking forward to working with them on this initiative to support projects alleviating the impact of food poverty.”
“Action Against Hunger applaud the Starbucks initiative to tackle food waste. Our global food systems face tough challenges and addressing food waste is one of the most effective ways to support change. Right now there are 16 million children in the world suffering from the severest form of malnutrition,” said Matt White, director of fundraising and communications at Action Against Hunger. “Every year between one and two million children die because they don’t have access to the right nutrition and healthy environment to grow up strong. By working together with Starbucks and their customers we aim to reduce food waste whilst raising money to save children’s lives where food security is threatened most – from Yemen and Iraq, to the countries currently at risk of famine, including South Sudan, Somalia and Nigeria.”
If you want to take advantage of the deals, just check for the closing times of your local Starbucks and plan to head down within an hour before closing time.
