Starbucks U.S. food waste plan has Canadian food banks 'delighted'

A new plan byStarbucks to end food waste at its U.S. locations by donating all unused food to the needy won't be coming to Canada just yet,but similar initiatives already exist on a local level and the move by Starbucks may be part of a broader trend in the restaurant industry.

The coffee behemothhas dubbed its U.S.program FoodShare, and says it will use refrigerated vans to pick up unsold food from its 7,600 U.S. company-operated stores and distribute it through food banks. Starbucks claimsthe initiative willdeliver almost 50 million meals by 2021and help divert food waste from landfills.

No national program for Canadayet

Starbuckssays it's "looking into" formalizinga national Canadian program to eliminate food waste through food donations, but a spokeswoman said a timeline for such a program isn't available. Still, some of Starbucks'roughly 1,300 Canadianlocations already donate food to local food banks.

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In Toronto, distribution offood donations from local Starbucksand many other restaurants are co-ordinated bySecond Harvest,a "food rescue" programthatworks to prevent waste and feed the hungry by recycling surplus food from restaurants, retailersand manufacturers.

That local partnership began in 1996, says Second Harvest's director of programs Lori Nikkel, and distributes the same kind of perishable food sandwiches, cheese, yogurtand the like that would be recycled under the new Starbucks plan in the U.S. All of the donated items are distributed on the same day they're made, says Nikkel, so there's no risk of expired food entering the supply chain.

Nikkelsays Second Harvest isthrilled at Starbucks'U.S. initiative.

"We're delighted, we're very excited about it,"says Nikkel."We hope that they would roll out a similar national program in Canada."

Like Second Harvest, Manitoba food bankdistributor Winnipeg Harvest also takes donations from Starbucks and other local restaurants. Managing director Kate Brenneris similarly encouragedthe new Starbucks initiative.

"I think it shows a tremendous amount of responsibility on the part of the organization,"says Brenner.

"We're hoping itwill come here. We're still very, very happy with the existing relationship we have with the Starbucks in the city and in the province, so this would just be an even better and more efficient way of doing it."

Logistical relief for food banks

Second Harvest's Nikkel is impressed with the specifics of the Starbucks plan, which would relieve logistical pressure on food banks by freeing them from picking up unused food themselves.

"The way they're managing it is so clever," saysNikkel. "It's not a quick fix, they have a five-year strategy to implement. I love that they've thought it through this well."

Gail Nyberg, executive director of Toronto's Daily Bread Food Bank, also sees promise inStarbucks'logisticsplan.

"If I think about a city the size of Toronto it would be virtually impossible to do a daily pickup from every Starbucks in the city," saysNyberg.

Growing trend

The Starbucksplan is part ofarecent trend towardeliminating waste within the restaurant and hospitality industries, according to Sylvain Charlebois, a professor at the University of Guelph'sFood Institute.

"It's really about capitalizing on efficiencies and making sure that the food is repurposed in a way that it actually helps the people in need," says Charlebois.

"There's been this awakening around food waste for maybe four or five years," says Charlebois, as theresult of some major academic studies. An increasing number of restaurant chains are concerned about food waste for a variety of reasons, including corporate social responsibility initiatives, managing costsand public relations.

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Restaurant chains "often see food waste as the big elephant in the room," adds Charlebois.

"They know it's there, they know it's a problem, but they're not necessarily overly comfortable talking about it. So when you see a company like Starbucksmoving forward on a strategy like this, it's not surprising. They're just showing that they're trying to do something about food waste."

Even though the stated goal of Starbucks program is to eventually"rescue 100 percent of its food available for donation,"Charleboispoints out that the plan doesn't address thecore Starbucks product coffee.

"When you look at waste, they often say that the No. 1 consumer of coffee in the world is the kitchen sink."