Foodservice businesses encouraged to donate excess stock

A survey conducted by the Food To Go Association (FTGA), formerly known as the Australian Sandwich Association, has revealed that its members are throwing away around 15% of their stock every day.

FTGA Director Graeme McCormack noted that Australian foodservice businesses “face tremendous pressure to ensure they always have the right stock on hand to meet customer demands, while also trying to minimise food wastage”. Unfortunately, he said, food wastage is not just impacting on the bottom line of foodservice businesses, but is also a wider community issue.

“Importantly for local food business owners, it is not just the cost of how much food is being wasted every day that is the issue, but also where this food ends up and whether it can be put to better use in the community,” McCormack said.

As such, companies are encouraged to follow in the footsteps of Tasty Fresh Food Co - a lunch van service that sells a range of hot and cold food to building site, factory and office workers. For the past 20 years, the company has donated over $18 million in stock to feed needy people through the Vinnies Soup Van program.

“While many business rightly focus on what can be done to minimise wastage, thought must also be given to how excess stock can help the community,” said Colin Lear, the founder and CEO of Tasty Fresh Food Co. “Too many foodservice businesses in Australia are still throwing away perfectly good food that could go to needy people when there are organisations that can help distribute goods to these people while also creating a giving program that creates greater employee engagement and positive profile raising in the community.”

Every weekday, Tasty Fresh Food Co’s leftover pre-packaged food is distributed to the Vinnies Fitzroy Soup Van service to feed the homeless and marginalised in inner city Melbourne. This equates to about 16% of its annual stock.

For more information about the Vinnies Soup Van program, click here