In observance of World Hunger Day, online food and grocery delivery platform foodpanda is stepping up its efforts to combat hunger and malnutrition through its sustainability program, "Let’s Do our Pau-rt" (LDOP).
Every year, on May 28th, World Hunger Day serves as a reminder of the global crisis of hunger and malnutrition. With over 1 billion women and children suffering from malnutrition and nearly 800 million people in the world do not have enough food to eat, the urgency to address this issue has never been greater.
In the Philippines, while there has been progress in addressing involuntary hunger, with a decrease from 14 percent to 11 percent between December 2023 and March 2024, the OCTA Research group survey reveals that an estimated 2.9 million families still grapple with food insecurity.
"The effects of hunger and malnutrition are far-reaching, because it impacts entire generations worldwide. But by starting locally, we can make global ripples against this crisis,” said foodpanda Philippines CEO Daniel Marogy.
Leading up to World Hunger Day, foodpanda has launched several initiatives aimed at making a tangible difference in alleviating hunger, malnutrition and food waste.
Share Meals, Share Like a Panda
To allow app users to easily donate meals after checking out their orders, foodpanda is leveraging its partnership with United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) through their innovative fundraising mobile application ShareTheMeal (STM). The donation feature aims to make donating to local beneficiaries as seamless and convenient as possible.
During its first run, the campaign successfully donated meals to local farmers from disaster-prone areas in the country who are often affected by climate emergencies.
“Given how successful the first initial run was, we wanted to continue our engagement with WFP so that more local beneficiaries will receive donated meals from our app users through our platform,” said Marogy.
Marogy also mentioned that they have mobilized their employees, urging them to share their meal donations via STM on their personal social media accounts. "Through creative posts and content, our employees can do their part by raising awareness about the importance of combating hunger and motivate others to join the effort."
Food Rescue Missions
Stop Food Waste Day, observed last April 24, saw foodpanda collaborate with its long-time partner Scholars of Sustenance (SOS PH) to rescue near-expiration items from its grocery arm, pandamart, and redistribute them to communities in need.
SOS PH representatives rescue near-expiry items from foodpanda’s pandamart
to donate to their community partners.
"Our aim is to redirect these near-expiry items to those who can still benefit from them, rather than letting them go to waste. This is a significant step against food wastage given that globally, about a third of food produced is lost or spoiled, with Filipino households alone wasting nearly 3 million tons annually.”
The donations from pandamart were able to procure more than 3,000 meals donated to SOS PH's partner communities.
Taking action on World Hunger Day
On the exact day of World Hunger Day, foodpanda employees joined forces with SOS PH to cook rescued food items in their soup kitchen in Marikina, providing meals to 300 beneficiaries.
Employees of foodpanda Philippines volunteered to prepare rescued food items collected by SOS PH
for donation to a community in Marikina.
"Our Panda employees were excited to participate in this mission for the second time. They previously cooked rescued food items during last October's World Food Day, and I look forward to seeing more of their involvement in soup kitchen missions like this one."
Marogy assured that these efforts will continue even without celebrations or annual events. "As we mark World Hunger Day this year, let's reflect on the importance of ending hunger and malnutrition for good. For us, what we want is to create a better, healthier future for everyone, one meal at a time.”
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