New system connects prevention, redistribution, reformulation, repurposing and recovery to help manufacturers, retailers and brand owners unlock greater value from surplus food – already increasing food-to-food outcomes from 0% to more than 30% for one leading UK manufacturer.
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Ashington, Northumberland – 1 September 2026:
ZRO, the UKs first connected surplus food system, officially launches today, giving manufacturers, retailers and brand owners a coordinated way to identify better outcomes for surplus food.
Rather than navigating multiple specialist providers independently, ZRO connects expertise, infrastructure and commercial routes across the food hierarchy, assessing each surplus stream individually to identify the highest-value viable outcome.
ZRO is a new proposition, bringing the full range of surplus food routes together through one connected system for the first time. However, the capability behind it is firmly established. Built on decades of SugaRich Group operational experience, ZRO connects specialist businesses already embedded within food manufacturers’ operations and supply chains. In the UK alone, SugaRich Group operations recovered more than 800,000 tonnes of surplus food in 2025 – giving ZRO proven scale, credibility and capability from the outset.
The approach is already delivering measurable results. In a recent pilot project with a leading UK biscuit manufacturer, applying the ZRO approach increased food-to-food outcomes from 0% to more than 30% within ten months, creating more than £156,000 of additional value from 438 tonnes of surplus material.
As businesses face growing pressure to improve resource efficiency, strengthen supply chain resilience and retain more value from food already produced, ZRO provides a practical framework that prioritises keeping food in the human food chain wherever possible.
ZRO – One system, five pathways
Until now, businesses have often needed to work with multiple providers to explore different options for surplus food. ZRO connects the expertise, infrastructure and specialist capabilities needed to assess each surplus stream and identify the highest-value viable outcome across five pathways:
- Prevent* – using SugaTrak data and insight to identify where surplus arises and help reduce it at source.
- Redistribute* – directing suitable surplus food to people through Company Shop Group’s redistribution network.
- Reformulate* – turning suitable surplus ingredients into new food products through ZRO Group Ltd.’s food-to-food capability. This approach is demonstrated through products such as Choc Nibbles
- Repurpose* – converting suitable former foodstuffs into quality-assured animal feed ingredients through SugaRich and AB Nutrition.
- Recover* – using Mobius’ total waste management capability to manage remaining materials responsibly and recover value wherever possible.
*Further detail on each pathway is provided in Notes to Editors.
The value of ZRO lies not in any single pathway, but in connecting them so that each surplus stream can be directed towards the best viable outcome.
From Sweetdreams to ZRO Group Ltd
The launch marks the next stage in the evolution of a Northumberland business with more than 30 years’ experience creating value from surplus confectionery and food ingredients.
Formerly known as confectionery manufacturer Sweetdreams Ltd, the business became ZRO Group Ltd in June 2026, reflecting its broader role as the UK operating business developing and delivering the ZRO system, commercial proposition, partnerships and proof.
In the UK, ZRO draws on specialist capability across the wider SugaRich Group, including SugaRich, Mobius, AB Nutrition and ZRO Group Ltd, alongside trusted external partners where collaboration adds value.
As part of Ravago, this combines the specialist expertise and agility of the SugaRich Group with the scale, infrastructure and international reach of a global organisation operating in more than 60 countries.
Food Stays Food
At the heart of ZRO is one simple principle: if something was made to be food, its highest value is to stay food.
Matthew Stephenson, Managing Director, ZRO Group Ltd, said:
“For too long, surplus has been approached as something to manage once the original route to market disappears. We see a much bigger opportunity: to retain as much of the value already created in that food as possible.
“Every surplus stream is different, so there shouldn’t be a predetermined answer. The right outcome might be prevention, redistribution, reformulation, repurposing or recovery. What matters is having the expertise and routes available to make that decision intelligently.
“ZRO connects those capabilities through one system. It gives businesses a simpler way to explore better outcomes while keeping food as food wherever it is safe and viable to do so. That is where we believe the next opportunity for the industry lies – not simply managing surplus more efficiently but rethinking what it can still become.”
Company Shop brings established redistribution expertise to ZRO
Company Shop Group joins ZRO as its founding redistribution partner, providing established expertise, infrastructure and national scale for surplus suitable for redistribution.
Partnering with the UK’s longest-standing surplus redistributor Company Shop Group, the redistribution pathway ensures that food and drink perfectly fit for human consumption can be sold to communities who need it most. Company Shop Group redistribute over 117 million items of surplus each year to their network of Surplus Supermarkets and social enterprise Community Shop, making them a well-established partner with the scale and infrastructure required to maximise this pathway for businesses within the ZRO system.
Chris Burns, Group Managing Director, Company Shop Group, said:
“We are continually looking at ways we provide practical, easy-to-implement solutions for industry as we advance our mission to help create a world where no product needlessly goes to waste. We are thrilled to be the founding redistribution partner in this industry-first partnership, providing a clear route for businesses to redistribute their surplus as well as alternative pathways as part of the ZRO system.”
Alex Keogh, Managing Director, SugaRich Group, said:
“For decades, businesses across the SugaRich Group have helped customers recover value from surplus food in different ways. ZRO brings those capabilities together through a single commercial framework – an important evolution for our business, and in our ambition to lead the industry towards better outcomes for surplus food.”
ENDS
About ZRO
ZRO is the shared food-repurposing brand and connected framework for creating better outcomes from surplus food and ingredients.
Built around the belief that food should retain its highest credible value, ZRO connects capabilities, partners and commercial routes across prevention, redistribution, reformulation, repurposing and recovery, prioritising food-to-food outcomes wherever safe and viable.
In the UK, ZRO is developed and delivered through ZRO Group Ltd, the UK legal entity and operating business formerly known as Sweetdreams Ltd.
About ZRO Group Ltd
ZRO Group Ltd is the UK operating business responsible for developing and delivering the ZRO system, commercial proposition, portfolio, partnerships and proof.
Evolving from Sweetdreams Ltd, the business builds on more than 30 years of experience creating value from surplus food and works with manufacturers, retailers and brand owners to identify practical, commercially credible routes for surplus food and ingredients.
About the SugaRich Group
The SugaRich Group is an established operating group providing end-to-end capability across surplus food collection and processing, data and traceability, food-to-food and food-to-feed applications, total waste management and resource optimisation.
Its specialist businesses include SugaRich, which collects and processes suitable former foodstuffs into animal feed ingredients; AB Nutrition, which connects those ingredients with agricultural markets; Mobius, which provides data-led total waste management and recovery capability; and ZRO Group Ltd, which develops food-to-food outcomes and delivers the ZRO commercial system in the UK.
Together, these businesses work with manufacturers across the UK and Europe, bringing long-standing relationships, infrastructure, technical expertise and operational integrity to the ZRO system.
The SugaRich Group is part of the Ravago Group, providing access to the scale, infrastructure and international reach of a global industrial group operating in more than 60 countries.
About Company Shop Group
Company Shop Group is the UK’s leading and longest-standing redistributor and retailer of surplus products. The commercial arm of the business operates a network of Company Shop ‘surplus supermarkets’, which sell discounted surplus from over 800 brands, retailers and manufacturers to its members, who meet specific criteria.
The Group also has a not-for-profit arm, the award-winning social enterprise Community Shop, which tackles the root causes of food insecurity in communities as a result of social inequality, by providing access to deeply discounted food and household essentials, along with life-changing personal development programmes.
The Group supports the industry in managing surplus at every stage of the product lifecycle, investing in problem-solving capabilities to help reduce waste and recoup value for businesses.
* Notes to Editors
The ZRO System
ZRO is a connected framework designed to assess surplus food and ingredients against the highest-value credible outcome available. Rather than directing material automatically towards one established outlet, each stream is considered individually according to factors including suitability, food safety, commercial opportunity, scale, traceability and available market routes.
Prevent
Prevention sits at the top of the ZRO hierarchy because the highest-value outcome is to avoid surplus occurring in the first place.
Data, auditing, measurement and reporting help manufacturers understand where and why surplus is arising. Capability available through the wider SugaRich Group, including Mobius and data-led systems such as SugaTrak, provides greater visibility and supports better-informed operational decision-making.
The objective is to identify recurring causes, improve resource efficiency and reduce avoidable surplus at source before considering downstream solutions.
Redistribute
Redistribution prioritises suitable finished products that remain fit for human consumption, providing a route for food to continue fulfilling its original purpose: feeding people.
Partnering with the UK’s longest-standing surplus redistributor Company Shop Group, the redistribution pathway ensures that food and drink perfectly fit for human consumption can be sold to communities who need it most. Company Shop Group redistribute over 117 million items of surplus each year to their network of Surplus Supermarkets and social enterprise Community Shop, making them a well-established partner with the scale and infrastructure required to maximise this pathway for businesses within the ZRO system.
Redistribution is assessed alongside the other ZRO pathways so that suitability, commercial requirements, product integrity and available routes can be considered as part of the overall surplus decision.
Reformulate
Reformulation considers whether suitable surplus food or ingredients can be transformed into new food products or secondary food applications, retaining their value within the human food chain.
ZRO Group Ltd brings more than 30 years of practical experience in creating value from surplus confectionery and food ingredients. This includes developing secure, traceable reuse processes and identifying commercially viable applications for suitable ingredients.
Choc Nibbles provides an established consumer-facing proof point of this principle in practice, demonstrating how rescued confectionery ingredients can be transformed into a scalable retail product.
Repurpose
Where direct food-to-food routes are not viable, repurposing seeks to retain the nutritional and commercial value of suitable food materials elsewhere within the wider food chain.
SugaRich provides established collection and processing capability for former foodstuffs, transforming suitable surplus materials from food manufacturing into high-quality animal feed ingredients.
AB Nutrition supports the downstream feed route, connecting suitable nutritional materials with agricultural markets and providing manufacturers with an alternative pathway where redistribution or reformulation is not appropriate.
Recover
Recovery provides a responsible route for material where prevention, redistribution, reformulation or repurposing are not technically, commercially or operationally viable. Mobius brings total waste management capability to this pathway, helping businesses coordinate, manage and evidence appropriate downstream outcomes.
Depending on the material, this may include recycling, energy recovery or other appropriate downstream applications, supported by data, reporting and specialist supply-chain management.
It forms the final part of a hierarchy designed to assess higher-value opportunities first and capture remaining value responsibly where those routes are exhausted.
The scale of the challenge
Waste remains a huge problem for the planet and the food and drink industry. WRAP reports that more than 10.7 million tonnes of food still goes to waste each year, including 6.4 million tonnes post-farm gate, while the industry continues to search for pragmatic, sustainable solutions. ZRO aims not only to ensure that existing surplus is channelled more effectively and efficiently, but also to provide a scalable solution that enables more surplus to be stopped from becoming waste.
