Aldi's Edinburgh and Lothians stores to donate all unsold food to charity on Christmas Eve

The Aldi store in Gilmerton Road. Pic: Supplied by Aldi

The discount supermarket chain today launches its festive food donations scheme and is calling on charities and food banks to register so that they can receive a free donation this Christmas.

The UK’s fastest-growing supermarket is aiming to redistribute all surplus fresh food from its 775 UK stores to local charities on Christmas Eve.

As part of the scheme, charities and good causes will be paired with local stores and can collect perishable products such as fruit, vegetables, fresh meat, fish and bread after the store closes at 6pm.

Aldi is hoping this year’s scheme will surpass the 450,000 meals donated to more than 300 charities across the UK last Christmas.

How to sign up

Charities should contact Aldi’s Corporate Responsibility team at [email protected] before Sunday, November 18th with the following details to apply:

Organisation name

Charity number

Organisation focus (e.g. soup kitchen, food bank)

Contact details

The postcode of the three nearest Aldi stores using the Aldi store finder - https://www.aldi.co.uk/store-finder

All charities that apply must be able to collect, store and distribute fresh food. Each store can be partnered with one charity only, and the pairings will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

Fritz Walleczek, Managing Director of Corporate Responsibility, said: “We want to give something back to the communities that we serve at such an important time of year.

"Last year we were able to reach thousands of people across the UK, and some charities were even able to prepare fresh meals that fed families well into the New Year."