Starbucks & Food Bank join hands to cut food waste

Starbucks Vietnam and Food Bank Vietnam signed a strategic cooperation agreement on August 22 in a bid to enhance awareness about reducing food waste and supply quality food to communities in need.

The two parties announced plans to conduct a pilot program focusing on reducing food waste in selected Starbucks outlets in Ho Chi Minh City. Teams from Food Bank Vietnam will visit these outlets every night to collect unsold baked goods and donate them to the needy and homeless around the city.

Starbucks will also closely cooperate with Food Bank Vietnam to implement a host of solutions aimed at minimizing waste in production and service, applying organic methods for reuse and optimizing the utilization of agricultural waste.

Such initiatives provide a premise for programs to minimize food waste in the community as well as provide food to communities in need, while also highlighting the need for solutions to reuse surplus food.

“We are really happy to kick off this project with Food Bank Vietnam,” said Ms. Patricia Marques, General Manager of Starbucks Vietnam. “Starbucks truly appreciates what the community gives us, and our mission is to give back as much as possible to create a better and more sustainable life.”

After a decade in Vietnam, Starbucks continues to commit to sustainable business practices, reducing environmental impacts and working towards a modern, sustainable community. “This agreement is the first stage of our commitment to hunger relief, and we look forward to expanding this meaningful initiative in the future,” she added.

Ms. Nguyen Hoang Truc Linh, Executive Director of Food Bank Vietnam, said it will undertake the role of raising awareness and preventing food waste through a series of sustainable activities, and distribute and share ingredients and products from Starbucks to various organizations, shelters, orphanages, support centers for those in difficult circumstances, and individuals in need within the community.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that one-third of the world’s food is lost or wasted during transportation from production to consumption, causing losses of nearly $1 trillion annually. A survey conducted across 4,000 households in eight Asia-Pacific countries revealed that Vietnam ranks second in the food waste index.

As food waste escalates in each country, the level of environmental pollution also becomes more serious, affecting life and economic development globally, including in Vietnam. To address the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing economic downturn, especially the system of cultivation and food supply worldwide, countries like Vietnam face immense hardships. Along with that, the number of disadvantaged individuals requiring food assistance is rising rapidly, especially in mountainous, island, and border areas prone to natural disasters like storms, floods, and drought.