Together with our strong partner foodsharing, we look back on the year 2018. We are grateful for the successful collaborations between foodsharing and the SIRPLUS rescue markets in Berlin. Since we not only share the same vision, but SIRPLUS co-founder Raphael Fellmer is also a co-founder of foodsharing, we are naturally very much connected to this unique, successful, and impactful movement – foodsharing – from the bottom of our hearts.
But what exactly is foodsharing ? Many people already know one of the 48,000 food savers or are active themselves, but for those who don't yet know foodsharing, here's a brief explanation:
Foodsharing is a nationwide initiative that combats food waste. Food is rescued from cooperating businesses, preventing it from ending up in the trash. The work of the so-called "food savers" is done on a voluntary basis, and the collected food is distributed free of charge. Distribution takes place both privately to friends, family, or neighbors, and to local collection points such as social service organizations. Another concept is the "Fair-Teiler" – a place where food can be brought and taken away free of charge. Additionally, food baskets allow people to share leftover food from home on a private level. The goal of the foodsharing movement is to increase appreciation for food, raise awareness of the issue, and establish a platform against food waste at foodsharing.de .
Of course, it goes without saying that we donate food we can no longer sell to foodsharing. Furthermore, we enthusiastically participated in the joint activities in 2018. A highlight was the foodsharing Festival at the Malzfabrik in Berlin-Schöneberg. We were delighted to support the festival with delicious smoothies and various types of popcorn from our warehouse. We were also invited to a panel discussion. Under the motto "Together we are strong against food waste," representatives from various initiatives came together to discuss different approaches to combating food waste with festival attendees. This discussion led to the idea of meeting more frequently in so-called "round tables" to exchange ideas and experiences.
Another collaboration arose in December for foodsharing's sixth anniversary. There, foodsharing, together with the German Environmental Aid Association (Deutsche Umwelthilfe), presented an action plan addressed to the German government at a press conference. The action plan contains demands that urgently need to be implemented in order to achieve the German government's stated goal of halving food waste by 2030. SIRPLUS supported the press conference by providing some rescued food for the journalists.
In the future, we will further expand our cooperation and promote foodsharing as another way to rescue food more actively on all SIRPLUS channels. We hope that this will encourage even more people to share their surplus food and become active food savers themselves.
We are excited to see how our collaboration develops and look forward to 2019 with great anticipation!
