
Britain's first food waste supermarket has opened allowing people to take home food that would otherwise now be rotting at the bottom of a bin.

Food waste campaigners from the Real Junk Food Project have unveiled their first warehouse in Pudsey, near Leeds, where people purchase snacks on a 'pay as you feel' basis.

Founder Adam Smith called it an 'anti-supermarket' because the majority of the food is intercepted from the big chains before it is thrown away.

Although the food may be out-of-date, it is perfectly safe to eat.

Britain has the highest level of food wastage in the European Union, with the average household throwing out more than three weeks' worth of food every year.

The Real Junk Food Project's warehouse in Pudsey is stocked with surplus food from supermarkets and local businesses

The scheme started with 'pay as you feel' cafes, but there was so much surplus food they set up a waste supermarket

The Real Junk Food Project receives on average between two and 10 tonnes of food at its warehouse every day

All the food in the 'supermarket' is perfectly edible, and would otherwise now be rotting at the bottom of a bin

Mr Smith, who started the Real Junk Food Project in 2013, allows people to pay for the food by not just money, but by volunteering to help out with the scheme.

The initiative started as 'boutiques' or food waste stalls selling produce in Real Junk Food Project cafes.

There are now 126 'pay as you feel' cafes in the UK and across the world.

The Real Junk Food Project receives on average between two and 10 tonnes of food at its warehouse on Grangefield Industrial Estate every day.

The supermarket has deals with retail giants such as Sainsbury's, Morrisons and Ocado, and also works with local allotments, cafes, food banks and caterers.

Project founder Adam Smith hopes the waste supermarket will be the start of a global movement to end food waste

Britain throws away 15 million tonnes of food a year, the worst offender in the EU and the supermarket aims to prevent that

Mr Smith, 31, a chef by training, said: 'I had already had the idea about opening up something like this as we had problems with having too much food.

'The surplus food is usually donated to local schools but over the summer we ended up being left with quite a large amount.

'We ended up creating a supermarket in one part of our warehouse and after posting on social media, we had hundreds of families coming down in the first week or so. We already let people take food home from the cafes but this is on a much larger scale. We didn't plan it, it was a consequence of operations.'

Mr Smith said he now hopes to open similar 'supermarkets' in towns and cities, such as Sheffield, Doncaster, Bradford, Brighton and Wigan.

He told the Guardian: 'I said right from the beginning that I wanted to feed the world and I haven't even started yet. We've fed nearly half a million people in 30 months but there's so much more we can do.'

Real Junk Food Project also delivers surplus bread, fruit, vegetables and dairy products to schools in its 'Fuel For School' project.

The food, which may otherwise have gone to the skip, is used to feed 12,000 children a week.

Customers are invited to shop for food thrown out by supermarkets and other businesses

As with all the Real Junk Food cafes, customers are invited to pay for their food in money, time and skills

The supermarket has deals with food giants including Sainsbury's, Morrisons and Ocado, as well as allotments

The store is packed with bread - described by Keith Annal, the operations manager as 'the bane of our lives' - but also bananas, punnets of grapes and tomatoes, posh crisps, jars of olives, Marks & Spencer cakes, Ferrero Rocher chocolates and out-of-date bottles of water.

It also stocks bunches of flowers, pork rolls from Greggs, pre-packaged pies, large boxes of noodles and massive jars of mayonnaise and mustard.

Sam Joseph, a director, said the team use 'common sense' when picking out food to give away.

He said: 'Most of the foods we serve are low-risk, we're very careful. Often best before dates are so arbitrary - who says that bang on 11:59pm some food is going to go off? In our eyes, if a vegetable is not mouldy, then it's fine to eat.'

Lynn O'Brien, who was visiting for the first time today with a friend, said: 'I went down today after my daughter saw a post about it on Facebook. I think this place is fantastic. The people here are very friendly and make you feel so welcome.

'I think it's a great idea as there are lots of people who are struggling these days. Most importantly it is all good food too.'

Health care worker Louise Bloomer, 48, from Leeds, said: 'I think the concept is a good idea, too much is wasted now, that's the problem.

'My mum works in a food bank and there can be some embarrassment about going to a food back but I don't think you have that here. You can pay what you want and leave what you want.

'I felt good about trying to find something here and leaving a donation.'

Her son, Matthew, 23, added: 'The pay as you feel thing is really good, as everyone has weeks when you think 'what am I going to do for food?''

Scott Sutton, 41, said: 'If you've never gone hungry then you wouldn't understand. We've picked up butter today, and stuff like cake for the kids.'

Founder Mr Smith, a chef by training, hopes to open similar 'supermarkets' in towns and cities across the UK

Although the food may be out-of-date, it is perfectly safe to eat and is priced on a 'pay as you feel' basis

Boxes of lemon cake slices, brownies, Caramel cake bars and Warburtons' crumpets are among the items available

Nicola Morse, 47, a nanny from Leeds, said: 'I knew about the cafes but I had never been.

'Today I have got bread, stuff for the kids packed lunches, biscuits, flowers, yoghurts, baby food, croissants and bagels.

'I think the quality is brilliant. I think this should have been done years ago.

'I think the amount of waste is disgusting. I think we need to adopt France's policy of banning any food that's been thrown away, they have just brought in that law.

'It should be donated to something like this or the homeless.

'I think the pay as you feel aspect is brilliant, ideal for people who can't afford to do shopping.

'I have probably paid about 80/90 per cent of what its worth. I haven't come up here to save money, I have come up here because I don't think food should be thrown away.'

Britain throws away 15 million tonnes of food a year, the worst offender in the EU.

This year, the big four supermarkets - Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons - signed a voluntary agreement that promised to drive down food and drink waste by a fifth within the next decade.

Tesco, Asda and Morrisons also launched a 'wonky veg' range earlier this year after TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall revealed how they were refusing to do so [and throwing away perfectly good food] in his 'War on Waste' series.