A Grimsby food factory is playing a key role in a new partnership with customer M&S and food charity Fareshare.

2 Sisters’ Recipe Dish plant on Europarc is to contribute towards a group-wide target of donating one million meal for people in need in the run-up to Christmas. The plant’s Smooth Tomato and Basil Soup has been selected, with the 400-strong team filling up capacity to honour the initiative.

Described as an industry first, unlike previous schemes, meals will not come from surplus or waste, with the work treated like a retail order. At least 250,000 tubs will be made as part of the initiative. The West Midlands-headquartered group has worked with M&S and Fareshare to select three of their most popular, seasonal ‘Eat Well’ products, which hold the high street giant’s gold standard seal of approval for health and nutrition.

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Ranjit Singh Boparan, founder and president of 2 Sisters Food Group, said: “We’re very proud to take the leading role in manufacturing and donating meals for our partners M&S and Fareshare. Never before has helping to feed everyone in need with a nutritious meal been so important, and it’s very pleasing to see retailers, manufacturers and our suppliers coming together to help make this possible.

“This powerful alliance and the goodwill of organisations for their flexibility, generosity in giving time and resource has made all this possible, and I applaud everyone for their efforts. This has happened against a backdrop in recent years where waste and surplus efficiency gains in food manufacturing have improved beyond measure, so it’s especially gratifying for us to use under-utilised capacity in our network and work with our supplier partners so we can donate bespoke, targeted products that will benefit those that need it most.”

It is estimated that up to 13 million people are facing food insecurity in the UK, a figure that has doubled in the past three years. Now the team at Pegasus Way are gearing up to play their part.

Stacy Picker, Recipe Dish’s general manager, said: “It’ll be a real challenge to get a substantial volume of soup through the factory in such a short time frame. But it’s such an excellent cause and everyone here has rallied round and gone above and beyond to make this happen. This soup is an excellent product, especially at this time of year, and we’re very happy it goes to those most in need throughout Lincolnshire and across the UK.”

FareShare works with 8,500 charities, with end-users ranging from homelessness shelters to after-school and elderly lunch clubs.

Alex Freudmann, managing director of M&S Food, added: “Making great quality, delicious and nutritious food is what we do at M&S Food and it's hugely important to me that we make this as accessible to as many families as possible. I am hugely proud that we are coming together with our supplier partners and supporting FareShare by flipping our mindset from using food that is too good to waste to innovating to use capacity that is too good to waste.”