365 days,
over 700 tons of rescued food,
800 tons of CO2 that were not wasted,
200,000 customers,
3 rescue markets
and countless amazing rescuer hearts.
A year ago, with the opening of our first rescue market in Berlin Wilmersdorf, we laid the foundation for greater appreciation of food, sustainability and climate protection.
Ready, set, go!
Thanks to you, we raised more than €90,000 through our crowdfunding campaign , enabling us to put our plan to make food rescue mainstream into action in September 2017.
At that time, the SIRPLUS team consisted of 3 members and the product range of 30 different products, which were available for sale in our first rescue market.
Photo credits: Maja Seidel
12 months later, the team includes over 60 incredibly great and hardworking rescuers, and we already have over 300 different products in our range.
The exciting months in our first rescue market, during which we expanded our product range to include fruit and vegetables as well as refrigerated goods, were followed in mid-January 2018 by the launch of our online shop , with which we have since been supplying all our diligent supporters nationwide with rescued food, finally enabling everyone in Germany to become a rescuer with a click of the mouse.
Due to the incredibly positive response and the many requests for further rescue markets, we began searching for a location for the 2nd rescue market at the beginning of the year.
And in July, the time had finally come – within three weeks, thanks to many helping hands, we transformed an old drugstore branch in Berlin Steglitz into our largest rescue market to date, even saving the entire shelving system in the process. On the first day, over 1,000 customers visited the 450-square-meter store, sampling our selection and rescuing as much as they could!
Following the strong SIRPLUS presence in West Berlin, we opened our market stall in Markthalle Neun in Berlin Kreuzberg. Since then, we can also rescue food every Friday and Saturday in East Berlin.
Photo credits: Markthalle Neun
In addition to our 3 rescue markets in Berlin, we also traveled to a large number of festivals this summer.
Together with Querfeld , we provided you with rescued food at melt!, 3000Grad, Fusion, Artlake and many other great festivals, so you could dance well through the nights for hours.
Too far away? Become an online rescuer!
There have also been some changes in our online shop . Many new products have been added, including a jam-packed organic and office supply rescue box.
The boxes can now be conveniently ordered as a subscription, so you receive a care package of rescued products delivered to your door every few weeks. In addition to the classic rescue box in vegan and vegetarian options, there are now also organic rescue boxes and office boxes available by subscription.
And you can stay tuned - we have dozens more great new projects and products in the pipeline for the next boxes.
We are incredibly happy about everything we have accomplished together in the last 12 months, and it was all only possible thanks to your support!
Food rescue in the heart of society
According to a WWF study , 1.3 billion tons of food end up in the trash worldwide every year. In Germany alone, that's 18 million tons of food per year, roughly equivalent to a truckload every minute. Shocking! Especially considering the ever-growing global population and the fact that we would have to drastically increase global food production in the future if people continue to be as wasteful as they are now. Our main goal is to raise awareness and appreciation for food so that this issue can truly resonate with the wider public.
For this reason, we are particularly proud that over 300 media reports have addressed the issue of food waste, but above all, the appreciation of all food, allowing us to reach millions of people. We have already been guests on TV shows such as Markus Lanz and Der beste Deal , and have also had the opportunity to share our mission and vision with many people at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ( FAZ) .
We are confident that this will continue, so that food appreciation can be integrated into our everyday routines, allowing many more people to happily help save food at home or with us, and thus raising public awareness of the SIRPLUS brand.
The fact that we are bringing an important issue to the forefront of society is demonstrated by all the fantastic awards we received last year. These include the Federal Prize “ Too Good for the Bin ” from the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, second place in the “EY Public Value Award”, and being selected as an “ Outstanding Place” in the Land of Ideas .
Membership in the EU Accelerator “ Climate-KIC ”, Europe’s largest public-private network for innovations against climate change, has also been incredibly helpful in making SIRPLUS what it is today. Through Climate-KIC, we received a total of 1.5 years of financial support, fantastic mentors, customized workshops, and arguably the most beautiful office space in Schöneberg, near the Gasometer.
It is also extremely important to us not only to save food, but also to generate solutions and awareness for the issue - and to do so without being preachy.
Through our direct educational work by our education officer Johanna in the form of training courses, workshops and lectures at schools, universities, companies as well as in our rescue markets, we have been able to introduce food rescue to thousands of people through rescue tips, statistics, various rescue actions and practical examples.
Let's tackle this together!
From the very beginning, it has been important to us to only complement existing organizations like food banks , as is also the case with METRO , where we rescue only what the food banks haven't taken from two Berlin stores six days a week. In addition, we donate 20% of the rescued food to charitable organizations like food banks. In this way, we have already been able to distribute almost 200,000 rescued food items to associations and social projects.
Through this development, we have managed to increase our direct impact to over 700 tons of rescued food. This equates to 816 tons of CO2 that would have been wasted. To put this in perspective, it's the emissions saved if we took 70 mid-range cars off the road for a year. With every additional rescue market, every educational workshop, every online purchase, and every B2B customer, we can further protect the environment and give even more people the opportunity to take action against food waste.
Photo credits: Maja Seidel
One thing is certain: without the incredible support, none of this would have been possible. Our thanks go to every single person, company, or organization that addresses the importance of valuing the resources we have for life and tries to make the world a better place together with us. Only together can we make a difference, drastically and sustainably reduce food waste, and thus ensure that our planet's valuable resources are preserved and that we transform our lifestyle into one that is sustainable for future generations, preventing us from causing further damage to nature.
Thank you so much!
Here's to the next 365 days and many more tons of rescued food!
