New food waste initiative at Halifax M&S as unsold bakery bread is turned into frozen garlic bread

By Abigail Kellett
Published 21st Apr 2023, 12:30 BST
Updated 21st Apr 2023, 14:06 BST
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M&S Halifax has started turning unsold bakery bread into frozen garlic bread, in an effort to reduce food waste.

At the end of each day, unsold baguettes and boules – baked in-store daily – are prepared and filled with garlic butter, and then sold as frozen garlic bread from £1, with an extended shelf life of 30 days.

The scheme is currently live in 251 stores and launched in 2020 following a successful trial. Since then, M&S has sold 2.1million of the re-purposed loaves.

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Chris Dunham, Store Manager at M&S Halifax, said: “Our in-store bakers create the freshest, highest quality bread daily for our customers. We believe each loaf is too good to waste and our customers agree. By getting creative we’ve found a way to extend shelf life and create delicious products for our customers – at great value too, from £1. Myself and the team are determined to keep finding innovative ways to tackle food waste in-store and look forward to playing our part in reducing food waste for M&S stores across the country.”

M&S is expanding its frozen garlic bread waste initiative to local store, M&S Halifax this April.M&S is expanding its frozen garlic bread waste initiative to local store, M&S Halifax this April.
M&S is expanding its frozen garlic bread waste initiative to local store, M&S Halifax this April.

M&S has pledged to halve food waste by 2030, as well as redistribute 100% of its edible surplus by 2025, as part of its Plan A sustainability roadmap.

Catherine David, Director of Collaboration and Change at WRAP, said: “It’s great to see a simple and effective idea grow in this way. Bread is the second most wasted food item in UK homes with the equivalent of more than one million loaves binned every day.”