In our ten years of operation as part of FareShare’s national network of food redistributors, SOFEA has spearheaded the fight against hunger and food waste.
Establishing effective and lasting partnerships with our major food supplies is central to these aims. One such partnership is our collaboration with the international baker, Brioche Pasquier. A French family baker since 1936, Brioche Pasquier’s partnership with SOFEA has resulted in 25 tonnes of brioche rolls (equivalent to 50,000 meals) being redistributed in 2024. This has saved 90 tonnes of carbon from being released into the atmosphere.
The dedicated team at Brioche Pasquier has driven this success. Since the Covid pandemic of 2020, they have worked with FareShare to support those in food poverty and thereby increased the amount of food making it to those in need.
Connor Wallace, Brioche Pasquier’s Supply Chain Manager, said:
“There will always be some product that fails to reach the shelves of retailers. Finding a partner on ‘food surplus’ who aligns on so many of our values to support the local community, and with such a capable network to distribute our food, was important to us. FareShare told so many lovely stories of SOFEA that we thought we should establish a direct partnership. We felt there was even more we could donate by reviewing our processes, notably by packing ‘rejects’ from our production lines into trays. Every week, we are now supplying SOFEA an additional 40 trays of fresh brioches from the oven, and with over 25 days shelf life remaining.”
Echoing these thoughts, Bryan Winn, Brioche Pasquier’s Health Safety & Environment Manager, said:
“Utilising the tray and dolly system already in place at SOFEA, we realised we could merge our processes to create a seamless benefit to the community. We’re very proud to have reduced our level of food waste, and, simultaneously, to have helped the local community. We will work closely with SOFEA FareShare going forward. As we grow, we will have more to donate in future.”