Wakefield's first social supermarket has opened its doors

The city's first social supermarket opened its doors to the public this morning.
Founder Adam Smith at the opening of TRJFP in SheffieldFounder Adam Smith at the opening of TRJFP in Sheffield
Founder Adam Smith at the opening of TRJFP in Sheffield

The new supermarket, pioneered by The Real Junk Food Project, intercepts food bound for landfill. The food is still safe to eat, but may have passed its best before date or been declared surplus.

All food is then offered to the public on a Pay-As-You-Feel basis, asking people to donate money, time or skills in exchange for their goods.

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The project opened after raising £3,020 from public donations, beating their target by more than £1,000.

It will be open seven days a week, Monday to Saturday 9am to 6pm and Sunday 10am to 4pm.

Adam Smith, who founded the project in 2013, said: “We are going to open the world’s first pay-as-you-feel social supermarket, which will be used as a central hub not only to feed the community of West Yorkshire but also the rest of the UK and the world.

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“It will be the first in our chain of food corridors, which will connect all the major cities together in terms of food surplus and hopefully create a corridor in which nobody is more than one hour away from food at any one time.”

TRJFP began as a single cafe which intercepted food and offered it to the public on a Pay-As-You-Feel basis.

The environmental project now collects surplus food for its cafes and schemes across the country and encourages people to buy and use food that would ordinarily be thrown away.

One third of all food produced across the globe goes to waste. TRJFP aims to eliminate food waste and uses the hashtag #FeedBelliesNotBins to further their cause.

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Last month, Mr Smith said that he would like to see Wakefield become the first waste-free city in the world after being inspired by the city’s attitude.

He said: “There’s something about Wakefield where they just kind of get on with stuff and people seem up for trying new stuff.”

The Real Junk Food Project Wakefield is located at Units 1&2, Headway Business Park, Denby Dale Road, Wakefield, WF2 7AZ.