M&S makes big change at 125 stores – and food fans will be thrilled

MARKS and Spencer is expanding a food waste initiative that means shoppers can grab a tasty bargain at 378 of its stores from April.

The supermarket scheme turns unsold baguettes into garlic bread.

It’s currently available in 253 stores and is being rolled out to 125 more shops around the country from next month.

The scheme, which launched in 2020, sees unsold items such as freshly baked baguettes and boules filled with garlic butter and sold as frozen garlic bread, with an extended shelf life of 30 days.

Since the start of the initiative, M&S has sold 2.1million re-purposed loaves, with prices starting from £1.

As part of the expansion and thanks to the popularity of the scheme, two new products will be available to customers.

Shoppers will be able to buy the San Francisco Sourdough Garlic Bread and West Country Cheddar and Red Leicester Garlic Cob, both priced at £3 each.

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

Andrew Clappen, technical director at M&S Food, said: “Our in-store bakers create the freshest, highest quality bread daily for our customers.

“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.

“The response has been fantastic and now is the time to roll out to more stores, with more products.”

He added that on top of creating frozen garlic bread, its 25p ripe banana bags are also popular among shoppers.

In other supermarket efforts to reduce food waste, Tesco and Asda last year introduced plant-based protection that could double the shelf life of fresh produce.

Lidl also offers shoppers the chance to bag themselves a five kilo box of fruit or veg for just £1.50.

The discount supermarket sells bundles of imperfect produce due to be chucked out through its Waste Not scheme.

If you’re concerned about wasting food, there are several apps you can use to help you save money.

We’ve rounded up plenty of other waste-busting tips, including freezing food and ways of using up leftover fruit.