In partnership with Feeding America's Foodshare program, Starbucks announced that they too will be donating unsold food to the less fortunate.
According to CNN "The company said Tuesday that it will aim to contribute "100%" of its leftover food from its 7,000-plus U.S. locations by this time next year". What's surprising is that the report says the idea came from the baristas themselves. According to Starbucks Newsroom, Teva Sakima, a shift supervisor in one of their stores "is one of many partner employees who have wanted to feed people who face hunger by donating surplus food from Starbucks stores".
Basing from CNBC's report last April 2015, an average American's food waste is worth $2,000 each year and a staggering $165-billion food waste in a year. How many more then can a company of 7,000 branches can throw away? Good thing Starbucks had taken a leap of action to finally save this unsold food and donate them to the needy.
Starbucks said during the first year of this food drive, they were able to provide 5 million meals to individuals in need. Their plan is to rescue every last bit of unsold food and make it available for donations. They projected that they will be able to donate a total of 50 million meals by 2021.
The partnership apparently started in 2010 and they have been continuously finding ways to improve the preservation and the distribution means with regard to donated food items. Jane Maly, Brand Manager for Starbucks said "The challenge was finding a way to preserve the food's quality during delivery...We focused on maintaining the temperature, texture and flavor of the surplus food, so when it reached a person in need, they could safely enjoy it."
Feeding America is a non-profit organization. For donations and those who would want to volunteer just visit www.feedingamerica.org.
