Press release – 17 October 2022
Sodexo, and its unique philanthropic cause Stop Hunger, have launched a region-wide partnership with the European Food Banks Federation (FEBA). Building upon existing collaboration between the organisations at a European and local level, the parties have signed an agreement in line with their mutual goal of preventing food waste while encouraging food surplus donation across Europe.
With this agreement, Sodexo recognises FEBA as a partner for the donation of surplus food from meal production in the countries where FEBA has members.
Cooperation with local food banks already exists in several countries and thanks to this new region-wide partnership with FEBA, Sodexo and Stop Hunger could extend its actions to reach more than 18 countries.
As stated in the EU food donation guidelines, the recovery of food surplus from the hospitality, catering and food service sectors is possible. While rules may differ in the Member States, most national authorities allow the redistribution of certain foods made available to customers. Some Member States together with sectorial organisations have established specific guidelines related to food donation from these sectors.
With this new partnership, Sodexo will assist as much as possible its food production teams to better understand and apply the guidelines, while FEBA will support overcoming barriers to donation.
Sunil Nayak, Sodexo Europe President, said: “As a major food service provider, we have made it our utmost priority to save food. Every time it is made possible, we share the surplus of food from meals with people in need. Our extended partnership with FEBA will help us to reinforce our support to local communities and secure new bonds to fight against food insecurity.”
Mouna Fassi Daoudi, President, Stop Hunger, said: “We are facing a global food crisis, with every zone of the world affected, and action is more crucial than ever. To facilitate surplus donation, Stop Hunger has hundreds of partnerships across the world with Food Banks and NGOs. This new Europe-wide partnership with FEBA will help us provide even more support to the most vulnerable, whilst bolstering our capacity to raise awareness and reinforcing our message that every step counts in the fight against hunger and food insecurity. We look forward to seeing what we can achieve together.”
Jacques Vandenschrik, FEBA President, said: “In times of crisis, collaboration is the main ingredient to adopt bold objectives and reaching them. At FEBA, we understand and recognize the indispensable value of food and today, thanks to this new level of collaboration we can take a further step in the prevention of food waste and reduction of food insecurity. FEBA is grateful to Sodexo and Stop Hunger for this cooperation which is now extended to several countries of our Europe.”
Overall, this contributes to an ongoing global effort by Sodexo and Stop Hunger to support surplus food donation.
Download the press release here.
