FMI was delighted to be in attendance at the launch of the new FoodCloud Hub initiative this morning at FoodCloud’s main Dublin hub. FoodCloud is a social enterprise that are focussed on tackling the problem of food surplus and food wastage.

Set up by Aoibheann O’Brien & Iseult Ward in 2013, FoodCloud ensures the redistribution of surplus food via a smartphone application and website to match retailers & businesses that have too much food, with charities who need more food.

Businesses or retailers upload details of their excess food to FoodCloud’s system which then sends an automated text message to local charities informing them of the availability of the food donation which can then be collected by the charity, either at the business or retailers own premises, or with today’s launch of the FoodCloud Hubs, at FoodCloud’s own distribution centres in Dublin, Cork or Galway.

Some of statistics around food wastage, both globally and in Ireland are staggering:
• 30% of food that is produced globally is never actually consumed
• 1 billion people are currently in food poverty globally yet we produce enough food to feed these people four times over
• 1 in 8 people in Ireland now live in food poverty
• 1 million tonnes of food are thrown out every year by Irish businesses and consumers
• In total, Irish households will spend in excess of €700m on food that will never be consumed every year

Speaking after the event, Account Director Gavin Spencer said, “FoodCloud is an incredibly simple yet effective solution to the problem of food wastage that exists not only in Ireland but far further afield. As a global problem, it is one of the most shocking and shameful issues that exist today particularly when you hear the statistics around the sheer volume of food that is needed by so many people that is simply dumped. While it’s heartening to hear about the likes of France banning the dumping of food by supermarkets, the FoodCloud solution offers a much more proactive solution that allows businesses & retailers themselves focus on getting surplus food to the charities that need it most whilst promoting partnership, engagement and enhanced social responsibility.”
FoodCloud is supported by some of Ireland’s largest retail companies including Musgrave Group, Tesco, Aldi & Lidl and FMI is delighted to continue our support of such a worthwhile initiative.

Pictured at the launch of FoodCloud Hubs are Gavin Spencer, Account Director FMI and Leo Varadkar, Minister for Social Protection