Waitrose worker is sacked for eating a jam doughnut

David Graham has slammed his former employer saying he was “frustrated” watching food go to waste on his nightshifts. 

The 28-year-old started working at Waitrose in 2017.

He said: “Throughout my time at the store, I have been disheartened by the level of food waste that was generated that wasn’t offered to charity or the employees, known as partners, who own the John Lewis Partnership.

David Graham said he was sacked for eating a doughnut (Image: David Graham)

“My first memory of working at the store was seeing four large chickens on a Saturday night going down to the bins.”

When he saw this, Mr Graham said Waitrose's policy was to give food, destined to be chucked, to charity or its employees at a 70/30 split.

However, he said Waitrose changed its policy in December last year meaning any food waste left on shelves after 9pm would be binned.

Furthermore, he has accused the supermarket of “mismatching its messaging” following a publication about tackling food waste.

During one shift, Mr Graham saw a bakery employee putting doughnuts in the bin when a 'sugar hit would have been helpful'. 

He said: “Being hungry and frustrated, I decided the only way to begin a conversation was to protest by continuing to eat the food waste doughnuts.

“I expected to be caught, I expected a conversation to start on how to reinstate the perk and reduce the other food waste and I even considered they may take it to a final warning.” 

He said that Waitrose launched two investigations over three “highly stressful weeks” until he was eventually sacked “on the grounds of theft”.

“I’m disappointed by the actions of the store and I’m sure their customers will also be saddened to hear this story. 

“Ultimately they have sacked a long-serving employee over a jam doughnut.

“Ideally, I would like to work here for six more months but this could be a blessing in disguise.”

However, Waitrose said it has “clear” rules in place about employees eating stock and that it donates whatever food it can to charity. 

A spokeswoman for Waitrose said the retailer cannot discuss individual cases about employees, but there are “very good reasons it has strict rules regarding the consumption of food by partners”. 

She added: “Like most major food businesses, we have clear rules over the consumption of food by employees.

“It’s our aim that no edible food is wasted and when products are near the end of their shelf life, we donate whatever we can to local charities with any suitable food remaining being shared fairly between our partners.” 

Mr Graham will now spend his time focusing on his electronic and software start-up business and hopes Waitrose management “can learn from this sad story”.