Deliveroo,  a Hong Kong’s food delivery company, announces the launch of ‘Deliveroo Links’.

This is a first-of-its-kind surplus food donation campaign in Hong Kong designed to help those in need.

Some 3,600 tons of surplus food is discarded in Hong Kong every day, and 33% of the food waste comes from the Food & Beverage industry. Deliveroo is on a mission to reduce that waste and give back to those in need by partnering with local restaurants and five not-for-profit organisations to donate surplus restaurant food to Charities include ChickenSoup Foundation, a philanthropic organization that supports the most at-risk children and youth in Hong Kong with free services, and St. James’ Settlement, a non-governmental charitable organization that, earlier this year, created the platform FOOD-CO which aims to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of food support services in Hong Kong.

Other partners include People Service Centre, which provides services for the elderly, the unemployed, low-income families and other vulnerable groups; West Kowloon Vineyard, a body which supports those who are poor and neglected; and The Society for the Aid and Rehabilitation of Drug Abusers, a free of charge voluntary rehabilitation programme for drug abusers.

The initiative stems from a compelling survey Deliveroo conducted recently which highlights the significant amount of food waste and leftover food by restaurants in Hong Kong. According to the collected data, 60% of the surveyed restaurants said they have leftover food at closing time and all of them found it difficult to predict the amount of leftover food, due to the irregularity of demand. As a result, restaurants have approximately 10 to 15 extra meals leftover at the end of the day that they either discard, sell at discounted prices or offer to staff members.

Deliveroo Links was soft-launched in September 2017 and dozens of meals have already been delivered to people in need by Deliveroo’s riders. Deliveroo Links kicks off this month with six partner restaurants including Youni, Korean Canteen, Paradise Group, Green Common, Mrs. Fields Cookies and Teakha who donate majority surplus food along with simple sides like rice to these charities. The food delivery company plans to bring dozens of more restaurants into the programme by the end of the year.

Brian Lo, General Manager, Hong Kong at Deliveroo said,

“In one of our recent restaurant surveys, we found that a great amount of extra food is cooked almost daily, however restaurants don’t always have the means to effectively manage the use of these surplus meals. Right away we knew we had the technology to change that, making it simple for restaurants to pack up extra meat, vegetables and rice at the end of the day and hand it over to one of our riders to bring to a nearby charity. Through Deliveroo Links, we are excited to use our technology to actively advocate food waste reduction in the Hong Kong community and give back to those in need.”

Jennies Chung, Programme Manager at ChickenSoup Foundation said

“Over 1/5th of the children in Hong Kong are living in poverty, and many of them are struggling to meet basic nutritional needs. Not only alleviating their hunger and relieving their poverty, Deliveroo Links is effective in educating our next generation on the importance of cherishing food and promoting awareness about the need to reduce food wastage. We are pleased to see Deliveroo’s contribution to the community via this initiative and we look forward to collaborating with them to further benefit more people in need.”

Featured image via Deliveroo Facebook page