DHL Supply Chain has announced a donation to FoodCloud, the Irish social enterprise tackling the twin issues of food waste and food insecurity, which will be used to fund the lease and maintenance of 11 vans. FoodCloud works with a network of Irish charities, community groups and retailers to collect and redistribute surplus food.
The new vans, funded by the donation from DHL Supply Chain, will improve the transport capacity of FoodCloud, increasing its fleet from 5 vans to 11. The increased capacity will facilitate improved food redistribution for FoodCloud’s network of retailers, including Tesco, and will enable more food to be delivered to those in need.
The donation is part of a new three-year partnership between DHL and FoodCloud which will also see the creation of volunteering and mentorship opportunities. DHL employees will be able to support FoodCloud’s vision for a world where no good food goes to waste by volunteering as drivers, helping to pack food in one of its three warehouses in Ireland or gleaning (picking surplus crops from fields).
Anna Harris, Sustainability Manager, DHL Supply Chain, Ireland says: “We’re thrilled to announce our new three-year partnership with FoodCloud, supporting such an important social enterprise. The transport of surplus food is key to the FoodCloud offering and we are delighted to be able to aid this, contributing our expertise alongside the donation. By partnering with FoodCloud, we are working to tackle food waste, and its social and environmental impacts while opening up exciting volunteering opportunities to our colleagues.”
Iseult Ward, CEO, FoodCloud, says: “We are delighted to be increasing our transport capabilities with the support of DHL, enabling us to redistribute surplus food with greater impact and efficiency. At a time when food prices are rising and people are increasingly feeling the strain of the cost of living, we are working to optimise our service and the specialist input provided by DHL is key to improving our logistics operations.”
