Persistent inequalities even in advanced societies mean that on the one hand food is wasted and on the other there is a poor and nutritionally unbalanced diet. Esselunga, a large-scale distribution company present with supermarkets in northern Italy and a producer of fresh products made partly in its own factories, is aware of the impact that careful management of surpluses can have. Therefore it undertakes various concrete actions which concern both production planning and the best management of the store’s reordering needs to reduce unsold stock, and the donation of surpluses to charities to distribute them before the deadline to people who need them.
To donate them systematically and safely, Esselunga has activated an almost twenty-year collaboration with the Banco Alimentare Foundation, che deals precisely with recovering surplus food and donating it to organizations that help people and families in difficulty in our country. Items close to expiration or with imperfections in the packaging are collected and then transported in insulated vans to facilities managed by teams of adequately trained volunteers; subsequently, Banco Alimentare takes care of the logistics to deliver the products to the recipients.
Food donations include bread, fruit, vegetables, dairy products, cured meats and meat, with the aim of offering a balanced and complete diet to those who need it. In particular, in 2023 the number of stores in the network in which the donation of products from the butcher’s department is active increased.
With Banco Alimentare, the company is also committed to training volunteers, who together with the Quality Assurance Management periodically visit the charitable structures receiving the food to identify any anomalies, thus providing a better service. Since the end of 2019, the collaboration with Banco Alimentare has also extended to the project for the city of Milan “Neighborhood Hubs”, structures equipped with cells and refrigerated vans capable of collecting and redistributing food products. The 2023 data shows how Esselunga, together with its suppliers, donated over 2 thousand tons of food in one year, equal to 4 million meals, to which are added voluntary donations to over 190 associations and non-profit bodies. This year too the company participated in the food collection organized by the Fondazione Banco Alimentare, but with something new: some colleagues from the headquarters and the network supported the volunteers of the Food Bank in the collection activity, thus contributing to this gesture. concrete form of solidarity. Customers can also actively support Esselunga’s partnership with Banco Alimentare by making a donation of 500 Fìdaty Points, for which food will be donated to those in need.
The surplus of bread, over 100 thousand kg of fresh product per year, is also made available to Pane Quotidiano Onlus, a non-profit organization founded in Milan in 1898 with the aim of ensuring basic food supplies for those who have them. need, every day, for free.
Together we can make a difference.
«At Esselunga we believe that our most precious ingredient are the people we interact with every day, including the communities of the territories in which we operate», claims Astrid Palmieri Chief Sustainability Officer Esselunga. «We support them in various ways: donations, fundraisers, awareness-raising activities and donation of food products to which, in collaboration with Banco Alimentare, we contribute both as distributors and as producers. These initiatives are a tangible sign of the valuable bonds we create and how we intend to restore to our customers the trust they place in us.”
