How HelloFresh Managed To Donate Over 1 Million Meals April 17, 2018
To date, HelloFresh has donated over one million meals, effectively reducing landfill waste by 65%. And with Earth Day right around the corner, now seems like a pretty perfect time to celebrate these milestones.
How did we do it?
By joining forces with Spoiler Alert, a company that offers a data-driven technology platform, coupled with professional services, we were able to find the best hunger relief organizations for the surplus food coming out of our three US distribution centers (New Jersey, Texas, California).
Why is this important?
1. It reduces food waste
The US spends $218 billion (with a b!) on the growing, processing, transporting, and disposing of food that is never eaten. And although here at HelloFresh we’ve always tried to help home cooks reduce waste by sending ingredients pre-measured and packed to perfection, this stat made it clear that we needed to do more. What we needed was a holistic, behind-the-scenes strategy in partnership with Spoiler Alert to more aggressively minimize food waste from the top down, which you can learn about below:
2. It supports our communities
As of March 2018, we collectively tracked one million donated meals-worth of food — almost 90% of which is produce (with carrots, zucchini, and bell peppers at the forefront). Mobile food markets like the ones pictured here are one of the main ways surplus food is distributed by volunteers to America’s food insecure.
3. It protects our environment
By diverting more than two-thirds of our surplus fresh ingredients, we were able to reduce landfill volume by 65% over a six-month timeframe and do our part in preventing greenhouse gas emissions and the acceleration of climate change.
Why does HelloFresh have surplus in the first place?
In an ideal world, there would be zero waste coming out of our distribution centers, but the last thing we want is to run out of fresh ingredients to send. This is why, although we can manage the amount of food sourced from suppliers to a certain degree, some surplus is inevitable.
So this Earth Day, join us in celebrating these sustainable milestones and keep an eye out for creative, out-of-the-box ideas for recycling your HelloFresh packaging right here on the blog later this Friday.