Northern independent retailer Booths is trialling a new food waste initiative to turn leftover bread into a range of frozen garlic bread.
Included in the range are Garlic Baguettes (twin pack), Garlic Senatra Sourdough, Garlic Ciabatta, White Garlic Bread, and Garlic Cob. The trial will take place in three Booths locations in Garstang, Knutsford, and Ulverston – if successful, is it to be rolled out to all of its 26 stores across Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cumbria, and Cheshire.
“Despite our best efforts to predict buying patterns we will have a few loaves of perfect condition bread, leftover on our bakery tables,” commented Gemma Haye, product development manager at Booths. “While we work with a number of local food banks, it often is not feasible for them to collect a few loaves of leftover bread every day, and many do not have capacity to store frozen bread.”
Haye described kitchen thrift as the backbone of the family-run company’s ‘Good Grocer’ ethos, noting that its team had developed garlic bread recipes using the leftover bread that in-store employees could make from leftover loaves, and package and freeze on site each day.
“This is a simple and effective way to eliminate food waste and create a new great tasting convenient product that pairs so well with our existing food lines like lasagne or our pasta ranges,” she added.
Booths’ move mirrors that of M&S, which introduced an initiative in 2020 to fill unsold baguettes with garlic butter and then freeze them to extend shelf life by 40 days. Last year, M&S became the first UK retailer to adopt paper packaging on its garlic butter baguettes.
The news of Booths’ latest sustainability measure comes at a time when the 178-year-old firm has broken tradition by appointing a female family member as part of its sixth-generation succession plan. Emma Booth, who is daughter of executive chairman Edwin Booth, has been named as category development manager for gifting & special occasions.
She previously worked on the shop floor as a 16-year-old before attending the University of Leeds Business School, going on to spend nearly seven years at Amazon including serving as marketing manager for Amazon Fresh. She is said to have undertaken a project over the last year to review all aspects of the Booths brand, and is to work on key operating areas of the business as well as develop its gifting offer, which is noted as a key growth area.
“I am extremely proud that Emma has chosen to join Booths after gaining a wealth of experience at Amazon,” Edwin Booth said. “Never a moment goes by without a conversation about how positive the future is for the business, and I am deeply proud that strong family succession is underway at Booths.”
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