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Helping out the Food banks together
27
March
2020
The coronacrisis is affecting us all, especially the vulnerable groups in society. Indeed, due to the high demand for dry food, Food banks supplies were depleting at a tremendously fast pace. As a result, many families were having extra difficult times. However, Colruyt Group has not thrown in the towel and has taken the initiative to tackle this problem and support the Food banks with a big supply of food products.
Quite an achievement of our stock managers
"Through our stores, we have had close relations with several major aid organisations for years", Sarah Hofman and Goedele Daems, Environment coordinators say. "Volunteers of the Food banks have always been able to count on the active support of several Colruyt, Bio-Planet and OKay stores to pick up food. With so many people hoarding, this had suddenly become impossible. To solve the problem, our logistic co-workers and stock managers tried to track supplies in stores across the country. We also expanded our donations with bread, pastry and salads, products we do not usually donate because of their limited shelf life. This enabled us to continue to donate products from our stores every day.
460,000 meals
"However, the need for essential basic food was so high that we decided to buy food ourselves and deliver it by truck to the Food banks", Koen De Maesschalck of Corporate Affairs says. "For this purpose, we also worked with other retailers. We mainly looked for canned food, but also managed to get hold of onions and potatoes at the auctions. Together with Comeos, the Belgian federation for trade and services, we finally gathered an equivalent of no less than 460,000 meals, allowing us to help many families."
More supplies if necessary
This week, the first truck filled with food left for the Food banks. A second delivery followed quickly after that Marc Hofman, COO at Colruyt Group: "Depending on how the situation evolves, we are able to provide a new load. In these unusual times, we want to continue our efforts for the vulnerable groups in society. That is why (the) management immediately took this initiative." This is our way to try and build a warmer society.
With this initiative, we contribute to the following Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
