BALLYMUN based Musgrave MarketPlace has donated 115 tonnes of fresh food – equating to over 250,000 meals – to charities across Ireland.
The donation, which has a value of €345,000, was made through the wholesale supplier’s two-year partnership with social enterprise FoodCloud.
FoodCloud connects businesses with surplus food to charities in local communities through a software platform. It simplifies the process of donating surplus food directly to charities that need it.
Since Musgrave MarketPlace established its partnership with FoodCloud, charities like the Simon Community have been able to reduce weekly food costs by an average of 30 percent.
John Pakenham, Business Development Manager with FoodCloud, said Musgrave MarketPlace has really embraced the challenge of tackling food waste.
“It’s a great example of a business using our solutions to reduce food surplus in the supply chain and at store level,” he added.
“Businesses with large volumes of surplus food like Musgrave Marketplace can learn from this partnership, as we work together to provide nutritious, delicious food to charitable and community groups.”
Jennifer Kitson of Dublin Simon Community said the Musgrave Marketplace partnership with FoodCloud had been contributing to Simon’s Riversdale House for over two months now.
“Riversdale House is a long-term accommodation service for people with high support needs following years of homelessness,” she added.
“As such, the donated food items are a valuable part of our ‘Food for Simon’ programme, which helps us reduce the costs of running our services, leaving more money for other essential support services.”
Desi Derby, Marketing Director at Musgrave Marketplace, said the company, was delighted to be supporting a food redistribution charity that benefits communities and reduces CO2 by diverting food surplus from landfill.
“Our partnership with FoodCloud means local charities in the communities that we operate in can save on food bills and reduce their running costs,” he continued.
“We look forward to continuing our partnership with FoodCloud and working with local charities to provide fresh and nutritious meals to those most in need.”
Musgrave MarketPlace established its partnership with FoodCloud two years ago with the aim of providing local charities in need with fresh wholesome and nutritional foods.
It also contributes to achieving the commitments set out in Taking Care of Our World, the Musgrave 2020 sustainability strategy that commits to alleviating food poverty through support for food re-distribution charities.
Musgrave MarketPlace donates surplus food directly to the FoodCloud Hub in Tallaght from its central distribution centre in Blanchardstown, every day.
Once the food reaches the closest FoodCloud Hub it is counted, uploaded to the FoodCloud IT warehousing system, and then segregated.
Each day the FoodCloud Hub team go through all donated goods, contact the charity partners and take orders for delivery or collection.