Starbucks to Donate Unsold Food

Coffeehouse chain plans to donate 100% of unsold food items through its new FoodShare program.

March 24, 2016

SEATTLE – Starbucks announced this week a national effort to provide nourishing, ready-to-eat meals to people in need through the new Starbucks FoodShare program. Working with Feeding America, Starbucks has set a goal to rescue 100% of food available to donate from its more than 7,000 U.S. stores.

Starbucks will donate unsold food products, including breakfast sandwiches, paninis, Bistro Boxes and salads. A refrigerated van will pick up food from Starbucks stores each day and deliver it to the Feeding America network. And by this time next year, Starbucks hopes it will be able to add 5 million meals to the pastries that the company has already been donating since 2010.

“When we thought about our vast store footprint across the U.S. and the impact we could make, it put a fire under us to figure out how to donate this food instead of throwing it away,” said Jane Maly, brand manager, Starbucks Food team. “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.”

With an estimated 70 billion pounds of food waste in America each year, according to Feeding America, Starbucks hopes to encourage other businesses to put a focus on food rescue.

“Our hope is by taking this first step, other companies will see the possibility for their participation and together we will make great strides in combating hunger,” said Cliff Burrows, group president, Starbucks U.S. and Americas.

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