Each day, millions of Americans struggle to avoid hunger. For years, Starbucks partners had donated pastries when they could to local nonprofits, but food safety policies prevented us from distributing salads, sandwiches and other refrigerated items to those in need. So we got to work to develop a way to preserve food quality and safely donate perishable meals.
In 2016, we joined with Food Donation Connection and Feeding America to create FoodShare, a program that uses refrigerated vans to pick up unsold food each day and distribute it to individuals and families struggling with food insecurity. This process allows us to donate millions of nourishing meals each year.
In addition to combating hunger, diverting food surplus from landfills furthers our goal of minimizing our environmental footprint. Always looking to use our scale for good, we hope to inspire other companies to join us in the fight against food waste.