A FOOD shop has opened to sell on goods donated by supermarkets.

The Real Junk Food Project opened Brighton and Hove’s first surplus food hub in Leybourne Parade in Bevendean and has been welcoming its first customers this week.

Fresh vegetables, tinned items and chilled and other goods are all on offer, and customers can choose to pay what they want for them.

Speaking at the opening, The Real Junk Food Project’s founding director Adam Buckingham said: “This is a major step forward for us as an organisation as we will be able to work with more supermarkets and food outlets, saving more food from going to waste and feeding even more people in our city.

“We hope to continue raising awareness about food waste, educating more people about what they can do to help and empowering our communities through positive change.”

The shop will be taking donations from shops, supermarkets and wholesalers to redistribute.

The food will be donated because it is past its best before date, its packaging is damaged, it is from an old season product line or because a pallet was damaged in the warehouse.

People will be able to make financial contributions in exchange for goods, or donate their time through volunteering at the shop.

The Real Junk Food Project Brighton operates three surplus food cafes in the city, in One Church in Gloucester Place, Hollingdean Community Centre and St Luke’s Church, Old Shoreham Road, on various days of the week.

The project, a volunteer-led organisation, saves about six tonnes of food every month and feeds up to 2,000 people a month in its cafes.

Ben Szobody, projects development manager at One Church in Brighton, cut the ribbon at the opening.

He said: “We facilitate the cafe because it helps to solve two social injustices, both the food waste problem and the issue of affordable and healthy meals for people on low incomes.

“It sees such a diverse range of people, from students to business people and homeless people, all eating lunch together.

“I like that the new shop is in Bevendean because it is in a neglected corner of the city which really needs it.”

The shop’s opening hours are posted on The Real Junk Food Project Brighton Facebook page.

It hopes to eventually open six days a week.

For more details go to realjunkfoodbrighton.co.uk.