How Holly is helping People and the Planet this Christmas
Best B4 Foods Owner, Holly Crook, explains how her Abercarn-based business, Best B4 Foods Ltd., is helping customers save money while saving the planet – by rescuing edible food from landfill.
“My story probably isn’t any different to anyone else’s – but my business is.
“I grew tired of seeing waste. Mainly food waste.
“Grocery stores throw it away every night, and yet the food banks are struggling to keep up with people who need food, people who cannot afford to pay full price at the big name grocery stores.
“Every year in the UK over 7 million tonnes of food is thrown away, a lot of which has passed its ‘best before’ date, but would still be perfectly good to eat. Best before dates are not the same thing as use by dates – food past a best before date is legal to sell, and safe to eat, although it may not be of the same quality – but as wholesalers need the space, rather than discount the stock, they normally just discard it, it ends up in landfill and erodes, leaking toxins into the soil and groundwater. That’s bad for everyone, but heartbreaking when we have people who can’t afford food.
“That’s when my lightbulb moment happened – what if we collected this food that was still edible and sold it at low cost to people with tight budgets?
“I found one wholesaler that had pallets with foods on it that had gone past their best before date. That quickly turned into 2 wholesalers and so on – now my husband and I travel the UK, we’ve gone as far as Portsmouth to source good, edible food that has simply past its best before date, being removed from shelves and designated for land fill. We collect food and deliver very real savings to local people.
“BestB4Foods is run entirely by my husband and myself, and it’s a labour of love. We scour wholesalers up and down the country to buy stock, load up our vehicle, travel back to the warehouse, price and stock the shelves. We then take photos and post information about the food we have managed to gather and the prices.
“It’s not as easy as it sounds – some wholesalers don’t want to let us have this stock because to them its a loss and a write off for the company so it sits there, getting older and unused and uneaten, but we’re working on this and building new relationships all the time.
“Because we work with wholesalers, some of the stuff can be catering size, for example, a 2.95kg tin of peas. That weight alone would send a normal shopper into a panic. However, we always help customers to make the best use of any ingredients we are able to source with advice and support. For example, I will gently reassure my customer to give ”peas a chance” by suggesting a recipe or making a bulk batch of warming winter soup and freezing it to have on hand for a quick hearty meal – and I regularly share recipes on our Twitter page.
“We’re about far more than just selling food, we really want to help people so I ask questions and listen to my customers needs. Are they recently diagnosed with Type II diabetes? I can suggest a sugar free muffin mix I just got in, or are they suffering with Coeliac Disease and need gluten free products? I have often rooted through my shelves reading labels to find a selection of items suitable to a particular dietary requirement. I’m not a doctor but I can read labels and I enjoy helping people help themselves.
“We are still small enough to offer little things like local delivery to regular customers who have transport problems, or doing the leg work for the customer by filling a basket with the shopping list sent via text and having it ready to pick up and collect payment the next day. No Charge. Happy Customer, happy me.
“You’ll always get a friendly Abercarn welcome – I do ask customers to bring their own bags though – I’m trying to help save the planet!
Customers can find Best B4 Foods at Unit 13A Darren Drive Prince Of Wales Industrial Estate, Abercarn, Caerphilly NP115AR of follow them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bestb4foods.co.uk/ and Twitter: @Bestb4foods