Sainsbury’s Food Donation Partnership Programme

Summary Fact Sheet

What is Sainsbury’s Food Donation Partnership Programme?

Sainsbury’s Food Donation Partnership Programme is making a positive difference to the local communities near our stores by supportingcharities helping local people in need and reducing food waste. The main programme is:

  • Back-of- store Food Donations - Sainsbury’s will donate food free of charge which may include fresh food (within their use by date), that is fit for human consumption to charity.

The programme has been running successfully in a number of stores and Sainsbury’s now wish to expand the programme to include as many stores as possible over a gradual time frame.

In addition to fresh food donations some stores run long-life customer food collections where our customers are encouraged to purchase an extra item in their shopping to be donated to charity. Please note, this is not something that can be run in every store.

What organisations can apply to become a Sainsbury’s Food Donation Partner?

To become a Sainsbury’s Food Partner you need to be:

  • a registered charity
  • helping local people in need and be in a position to use donated food to support your beneficiaries

NB: some fresh food maybe donated to animal charities, but only if there are not any suitable people charities in an area

What is required from a Food Donation Partner?

A Food Partner must be able to:

  • collect food from their local store regularly – as a Food Partner you can nominate a day or days when you can collect food donations from store. These should be agreed with the store at the beginning of the partnership
  • put in place effective procedures for the receipt, storage and security of food provided by Sainsbury’s
  • ensure all staff involved in handling food are knowledgeable of food hygiene requirements
  • comply with legally acceptable standards of hygiene in handling, storage, preparation and serving of meals and in accordance with manufacturers’ instructions where available.

Food donated by a Sainsbury’s store can only be used for charitable purposes and for the sole use of the receiving charity. It may not be sold by the charity or given away unless for charitable purposes.

How do I apply to become a Food Partner?

If you are interested in becoming a Sainsbury’s Food Donation Partner your first step is to complete the‘Sainsbury’s Food Donation Partnership Application Form’. Your application will then go through the following steps:

  • Step 1 - Assessment: Sainsbury’s will assess your application and will advise you if you have or have not met the initial criteria
  • Step 2 - Finding a Partner Store: We will add your details to our database and try and match you to a store in your area. Please note that we cannot guarantee your charity a partner store. Some stores may already have an existing Food Donation Partner in your area, or be unable to meet your specific requirements, while other stores may not be in a position to start a Food Donation Partnership immediately. However, if we have not been able to find you a partner store in eight weeks we will update you with our progress and the likelihood of finding a partner store in the near future
  • Step 3 - Introduction to a Partner Store: if we can find you a partner store we will introduce you to the store for you to arrange a mutually convenient date to meet up and discuss the partnership in more detail. At this stage you will need to sign a ‘Sainsbury’s Food Donation Programme Agreement Form’ which is a legal agreement.

NB: Charities must be able to produce their latest accounts. Newly registered charities must be able to produce 3 months bank statements.

If you have any questions or queries please contact us at or refer to the Frequently Asked Questions.

Sainsbury’s Food Donation Partnership Programme FAQs

  1. My organisation could handle the long-life food donations but not the fresh food donations can I still apply?
  1. Yes, although Sainsbury’s would prefer that Food Donation Partners should be able to use both fresh and long- life food donations. Preference will be given to these organisations, but we can enquire if stores in your area could run a long-lifecollection.
  1. For what reasons may a charity not be accepted as a Food Donation Partner?
  1. The main reason that an organisation may not be accepted as a Food Donation Partner is if they cannot comply with Sainsbury’s Food Donations Programme Agreement Form or are unable to use the likely volume of food donations.There will also be checks undertaken on the charity to ensure that as an organisation you meet charity legislation and you must be able to produce your latest accounts, or three months bank statements for newly registered charities.
  1. What food could be donated?
  1. Donated foods may include fresh food (within their use-by dates), frozen foods, fresh produce and ambient products (cans, jars, packets, bread etc.). The store cannot guarantee which items will be available or in what quantities.
  1. How frequently does food need to be collected from store?
  1. For fresh food surplus donations the Food Donation Partner may need to collect donations on a daily basis. This will vary according to the type of food available and what works best for both stores and Food Donation Partners. Collection times should therefore be agreed between stores and Food Donation Partner at the beginning of a partnership. Long-life food donations can be more flexible depending on volumes donated but still need to be collected regularly due to storage issues.
  1. Do we need to take all fresh food surplus items offered to us?
  1. Back-of-store Food Donation Partners need only take what they can use. However, all items in the Food Collection Points in store should be taken as these are customer donations. The Food Partner can then choose what to do with anything they cannot make use of (but it must not be resold).