For many businesses, excess food is merely waste to be thrown away. But for charities, it represents a precious resource.
They can redistribute the supplies to the needy, ensuring that nothing is wasted. All they need is to be matched with appropriate donors.
This is where Food Bank Singapore comes in. The soon-to-be-opened centre – with the motto: ‘Do not bin it when you can still eat it’- will be the first to coordinate food donation across the island.
Its co-founders, Ms Nichol Ng and her brother Nicholas, are managing directors of FoodXervices, which supplies more than 3,000 products to 2,000 end customers. They realised there was a lot of waste in the food business and a shortage in the welfare sector. So they set up the bank, which allows them to use their industry contacts to find donors and match them with appropriate recipients.
‘Because we’re in the food industry and we do know suppliers, we can hopefully get more surplus food than if it were just one organisation,’ said Mr Ng, 33. The bank will also help logistically by storing, transporting and distributing donated food. This could include unopened packages or fresh food from suppliers and retailers such as supermarkets.
Although the siblings first floated the idea a few years ago, it did not take shape until January this year, when they secured a full-time staff member and a coordinating volunteer. The bank is now applying to become a charity, and expects approval in June. For now, it will be run from FoodXervices’ warehouse in Tanjong Pagar.
The fledgling organisation has already attracted support from potential donors and charities. Ms Ng, 34, said they had approached three suppliers so far – Wintercorn Edible Products, rice importer Gan Hup Lee, and Yee Lee Oils and Foodstuffs. All have responded positively.
After the bank’s soft launch at the Food & Hotel Asia 2012 event next Tuesday, they intend to speak to more than 20 other potential food companies and retailers.
A Wintercorn Edible Products representative said it supported the concept of the food bank, and its business relationship with FoodXervices meant it would be likely to offer good prices for its vegetable oils to groups that need them.
As for those on the receiving end, the bank hopes to work with established volunteer welfare organisations, soup kitchens, homes and family service centres. Although no partnerships are yet set in stone, various groups have expressed support.
Willing Hearts, a volunteer-based non-profit organisation, serves 75,000 free meals a month. Although it puts about 50 volunteers to work daily, ad hoc donations are not enough to cater to increasing demand. Its treasurer, Mr Charles Liew, said the food bank was a good idea, adding: ‘Hopefully they’ll be able to identify importers of food and offer it to us.’
Food from the Heart gives out around 28,000kg of bread per month to 8,000 needy recipients. The charity was also interested in the bank as a potential source of more donors. ‘The more bakeries we can reach, the more needy families we can reach,’ said senior executive Ain Hamzah.
The food bank hopes to have 10 serious donors and 10 beneficiaries by the end of the year. Ms Ng said: ‘We’re a small player in the industry, but after we take the first step, hopefully others can follow suit.’
