FAQs

We work hard to find ways to redistribute as many items as we can and our capabilities are always improving.  Give our Commercial Team a call to discuss your surplus products and they’ll be able to give you their expert advice. Surplus Hotline details 0800 211 84 84 or email us on surplus@companyshop.co.uk  

Yes. Many of our partners choose to donate their surplus stock. We use this donated stock to power our life changing work in Community Shop – helping us to build stronger individuals and more confident communities. Don’t worry if you don’t think that your stock will be suitable for Community Shop. 

The beauty of our Group model is that we can take any type and volume of stock, and if there is too much (or it is not suitable e.g. alcohol) for Community Shop, then we can sell it through Company Shop and give Community Shop the full value of the donation as a credit, enabling Company Shop to benefit from the wider Group product range. This means that our Community Shop members have access to a high quality and full shopping offer at deeply discounted prices – ensuring that they get what they need rather than what they are given under a traditional surplus donation model. We can also offer you a blended approach for your surplus – we can pay you for some and you can donate some – the best of both worlds. If you have surplus products, email surplus@companyshopgroup.co.uk or call 0800 211 84 84 where our team of category specialists will be able to advise you further.

Yes. We actively encourage visits to our HQ, so you can see and understand our capabilities at first hand.

We’ve developed a sustainable model, which makes sure that the sales of products in our stores fund the services and activities we offer. For that reason, we don’t use volunteers. However, we help hundreds of people each year to become Community Leaders through our training programmes. So there may be another way that we can use your talent and time. If you’d like to discuss your options send an email info@companyshopgroup.co.uk to or give us a call on 01226 747121.

We’re always looking for places where a Community Shop would be most valued. We work with local authorities and lots of partner organisations to understand this. If you’d like to tell us about a place you think would be ideal let us know at or give us a call on 01226 747121.

Yes, drop us an email at surplus@companyshopgroup.co.uk or call us on 0800 211 84 84 to arrange a waste walk.

For press and media enquiries contact PLMR via email companyshop@plmr.co.uk or call 0800 024 66 91

Yes, as a commercial redistributor we pay you for your surplus stock – it’s as simple as that. In the last 12 months we've paid our industry partners £49m for their stock. This means that we have paid over £188m for surplus stock in the last five years. In addition to a financial return, importantly, our solution helps you to fulfil your environmental and social aims too.

If you have surplus products, email surplus@companyshopgroup.co.uk or call 0800 211 84 84 where our team of category specialists will be able to advise you further.  

We have our own fleet of vehicles if you’re unable to transport goods to us and we always try to use the most environmentally friendly method of transport. Email our commercial team on surplus@companyshop.co.uk  

The minimum amount we can take is one pallet.

Members can only buy six of the same product. Any purchases above this amount are flagged on our systems.

We find a solution that works for you, whether we collect, or you deliver. It’s really simple. If you have surplus products, email surplus@companyshopgroup.co.uk or call 0800 211 84 84 where our team of category specialists will be able to advise you further.

As a commercial business we pay you for your surplus – it’s as simple as that. In fact, over the past five years, we've returned over £188m to our industry. Give us a call on our Surplus Hotline number 0800 211 84 84. In addition to a financial return, our solution aligns with environmental objectives and targets such as Champions 23.3, WRAPS Target, Measure Act and Courtauld 2025.

Let’s talk. Drop us an email at donations@community-shop.co.uk

We’re committed to making a meaningful social and environmental impact. One of the most important ways we do this is through our award-winning social enterprise, Community Shop. It’s the UK’s first social supermarket, which aims to tackle the root causes of food insecurity in communities experiencing social inequality.

The food on sale is all surplus stock and is sold to members at deeply discounted prices. But Community Shops do far more than just help families on tight budgets to access great value food.

Members also enrol on a tailored personal development programme, where they can access skills training and get advice on debt, family budgeting and employability. This helps to fight the causes of food poverty by empowering individuals and building stronger communities. We have plans to develop our network further, so we can help even more people across the UK as soon as possible.

We use the same stringent processes that we do in our Company Shops. We use inkjet printing or labelling and we mark packaging so it can’t be returned to the retailer. For example “Staff sales” might be printed on products.

All the products we sell are traceable through our closed membership group. So we’re able to speak directly to members who’ve purchased recalled products and advise them in line with FSA guidance.

We have stringent processes in place through inkjet printing or labelling. We mark packaging so it can’t be returned to the retailer. For example “Staff sales” might be printed on products.

We help our members through three interconnected spaces:

Community Store offers food and household products from well-known brands at deeply discounted prices, all powered by surplus and donated food from our amazing partners. For those on the cusp of food poverty, this helps feed families while making sure perfectly good products don’t go to waste.

Community Hub provides life-changing training and personal development through the What If plan, powered by the profits from the Community Store. It helps people increase their confidence, build on strengths, and overcome barriers in their lives. Community Hub inspires people to become the best version of themselves.

Community Kitchen is powered by Community Store’s wide range of products, Community Kitchen is a welcoming space where people can enjoy good quality meals at low-cost prices. Not only that, but through a range of events and family activities, it’s a place that brings communities together. People rebuild a positive relationship with food through cook clubs, seasonal activities and kids eat free all year round – a life-line for many struggling families.

Community Shop gives the food industry the opportunity to donate surplus products, so we can use them as a catalyst to empower individuals and build stronger and more confident communities. These donations save waste, ease family food bills and give our members the space, tools and support to flourish.

Each of our Community Shops support around 750 families.

We operate a closed membership model across both Company Shop and Community Shop, with people needs to meet certain criteria to become members.

We have ambitious expansion plans for Community Shop, so that we can use surplus stock to support more people and communities experiencing social inequality.

Surplus arises for many reasons, including:

• Work in progress and surplus ingredients

• Trial products and new product development (NPD)

• Seasonal and promotional products

• Old/promotional/seasonal packaging, de-lists and rebrands

• Over production and overstocks

• Specification or quality rejections

• Stock with foreign labels

• Part pallets

• Tempered surplus

• Manufacturing or labeling errors

• Damaged products

• Underweights/overweights

• Misaligned packaging

• Bulk products

• Short shelf life

• Fractured multi-packs

There are some other examples of surplus streams too:

• Home shopping returns

• Bottle wash – where a bottle (or can) has broken, contamination the surrounding stock

To ensure that your products reach their full potential, we provide an extensive range of product interventions that adhere to the highest standards of product safety and legal compliance. We have our own technical team, a primary authority relationship with Barnsley MBC and  are BRC certified (A Grade) against the Global Standard for Food Safety (Issue 8:August 2018) If you have leftover or irregular products; work in progress or even leftover ingredients; and are unsure whether they can be redistributed, contact us and let us see if we can help. Email: surplus@companyshopgroup.co.uk Or call: 0800 211 84 84  

We sell pretty much everything you’d expect to find in a supermarket, but no alcohol.

• Fresh

• Chilled

• Frozen

• Ambient

• Non food

• Pet care

• Household

• Personal care

• Homeware

• Flowers

• Consumables

Community Shop is an award-winning social enterprise and the UK's first social supermarket, which aims to tackle the root causes of food insecurity in communities experiencing social inequality.

With three interconnecting spaces within one building, Community Store provides access to deeply discounted food and essentials, including fruit, veg and bread for only 20p. The profits from the store are then invested in Community Hub, which delivers a life-changing holistic support programme, empowering people to develop their own capabilities and deliver a positive future for themselves.

Additionally, each Community Shop has a Community Kitchen, a café that enable people to connect with others and learn through food, as well as providing home-cooked meals for the community with kids eating free every day.

The unique model uses surplus products donated by its stock partners through Company Shop Group, ensuring that no product needlessly goes to waste, whilst simultaneously providing a sustainable support model for thousands of families each year.

These are products that won’t find their way onto the shelves of mainstream retailers and so need another home. Surplus occurs for many reasons (click here), such as labeling errors, overproduction, left over part-pallets, new product developments and many more reasons. We believe that if you see surplus as waste, you’ll treat it as such. We’re all about changing mindsets so that everyone sees waste as surplus and is able to unlock its true value. If you have leftover or irregular products, or work in progress or even leftover ingredients and are unsure whether they can be redistributed, contact us and let us see if we can help. Email surplus@companyshopgroup.co.uk or call us on 0800 211 84 84.  

Pretty much anything you’d expect to find in a large format supermarket, including:

• Chilled Food and Drinks

• Frozen Food

• Ambient Food and Drink

• Produce

• Beers, Wines & Spirits

• Non food e.g. clothing and electricals

• Pet care

• Gifts

• Household

• Personal care

• Homeware

• Flowers

• Garden/BBQ

Email surplus@companyshopgroup.co.uk or call us on 0800 211 84 84 to find out more.

We only sell products to our members through our network of Company Shops, as well as through our network of award-winning social enterprises, Community Shop.

Surplus can happen anywhere along the supply chain, in any process, on any site, in any weather, to any business. Some surplus is avoidable and we work closely with our partners to identify the root cause and remedies. But it is inevitable that other unavoidable surplus does occur and then it becomes about doing the right thing – commercially, environmentally, socially. Often a business doesn’t recognise surplus, because the product is being treated as a waste stream.

This is where we work hard to change mindsets and turn a problem into a solution. Because we work with partners throughout the FMCG supply chain, we can support you with your surplus, from grower/producer right through packaging and logistics to end retailer. If you have leftover or irregular products; work in progress or even leftover ingredients; and are unsure whether they can be redistributed, contact us and let us see if we can help.

Email surplus@companyshopgroup.co.uk or call us on 0800 211 84 84.

Unlike normal supermarkets, you need to be a member to shop at a Company Shop. You can only apply for membership if you’re in one of the following groups:

• Employees who work in the FMCG food supply chain.

• NHS (including volunteers, students, GP Practices & NHS Dentists)

• Police Officers (including special Police Officers)

• Fire Service Staff

• Those in receipt of a qualifying pension from the groups above

We are approved by all the major UK Grocery retailers and other High Street retailers to re-distribute their own-label stock, whether that comes direct from them or from any other business in their supply chain. Yes, that means that we can redistribute your retailer packaged stock without you having to strip/deface it and you do not have to ask permission from the retailer either!

Manufacturers We work with over 800 manufacturers across the FMCG and Food Service supply chains, providing commercial and social solutions for surplus stock (even if it is in retailer own-label packaging). We also work with many other businesses and organisations including: Packers, Third-party Logistics providers (3PLs), Hauliers, Growers, Wholesalers, Exporters/Importers, Industry bodies, Community and Charity Partners and many more.    

We are the UK’s leading redistributor of surplus products. We have a focus on food and drink, but that is only half of the story. We also redistribute non-food items from household and personal care through to homewares, pet care, seasonal goods, gifts, clothing and outside living. Pretty much anything that you would find in a large format retailer. Championing our profit and purpose model, Company Shop is our commercial operation and Community Shop is our award-winning social enterprise. We offer a commercial return for surplus or accept donated surplus products to deliver life-changing work in Community Shop. We can even do a bit of both! To find out more: If we can help you identify and redistribute your surplus stock, email us at surplus@companyshopgroup.co.uk or call us on 0800 211 84 84.  

It helps protect the integrity of our clients’ brands. We have contractual arrangements with our retail clients for us to sell their branded products. These are unique to Company Shop and are based around our members being from the food supply chain, alongside those from the Police Force, Fire Brigade and frontline NHS/Ambulance Services. Historically, this is because people working in the food supply chain have often had access to “factory shops” on manufacturing sites. As this is where our business originated, this arrangement has continued with the support of our retail clients. Changing our membership criteria would stretch the surplus stock we currently receive and would give our current and future members a service that didn’t work nearly as well.

In 2013, amidst growing rates of food insecurity across the UK, a small team from Company Shop Group gathered to discuss how the surplus we redistributed could be used to support people and communities experiencing this issue. We carried out extensive research to create a model which wasn't just about providing a hand-out but genuinely helped people to improve the circumstances which they found themselves in for the long-term. Our research centred around the question 'why do we eat food?’ as food is so much more than just calories to survive; it brings people together, its is celebration, it is joy, and therefore when people are unable to purchase the food they need, the negative impact it has on other areas of their lives and future potential, is significant.

Often food insecurity is the tip of other problems that our members may have in their lives, therefore through our unique model of providing access to food they need, providing support through development with trained individuals and giving people an opportunity to socialise and connect with others in potentially similar circumstances makes a substantial long term positive impact to their lives. We believe in a collaborative approach with our members; we work with people, putting the individual at the heart of all we do and helping them make sense of their own stories.