Worldwide Fruit
Worldwide Fruit is an international fruit marketing and distribution company supplying top quality fruit to the UK’s leading supermarkets. It sources products globally, from over 1000 growers worldwide, ensuring continuity of supply 365 days of the year.
In the autumn, we formally announced a new redistribution partnership with one of the world’s leading fruit distributors, Lincolnshire-based Worldwide Fruit Ltd. Following a successful summer pilot, we teamed up in a unique collaborative approach that will see thousands of tonnes of fruit saved each year.
Every year, Worldwide Fruit has surplus - from apples and pears to peaches, plums, nectarines and avocados - which it has previously struggled to redistribute at scale due to the logistical complexities of pallets, punnets and trays.
“Worldwide Fruit has always been determined to reduce its quantities of edible surplus that go to waste but we needed a redistribution partner that could work flexibly with the complex logistics moving tonnes of fruit around the county.”
And the results have been enormously fruitful. Together, we are bringing the bounty of New Zealand, South America, South Africa and beyond to TBBT’s hubs.
But the partnership didn’t stop there. Working with one of Worldwide Fruits linked farmers, Chandler and Dunn in Kent, the collaboration grew to connect direct with growers themselves.
Every autumn there is fruit left farmers’ trees that hasn’t been harvested for a retailer: this fruit could be too big, too small or not the right colour. Usually it is picked for juicing or used as animal feed. This year, it’s come to TBBT. In just three days, Chandler and Dunn’s expert picking team harvested over 150,000 surplus apples in a ‘final pick’ for redistribution to TBBT.
Worldwide Fruit is now working with all its partners to examine in depth elements of its supply chain which generate surpluses that can be eliminated as part of its sustainability drive and net zero aspirations. And as a result of our highly collaborative partnership, we've now received over half a million pieces of fruit since the summer.
