Sodexo partners with Foodbank to supply vital staple foods

SODEXO, a company specialising in ‘quality of life’ services, donated $32,000 to Australian Foodbank’s Key Staples Program – ahead of World Food Day on October 16 – to help the hunger relief organisation feed more than 652,000 people per month.

Foodbank’s world-leading Key Staples Program proactively sources and manufactures essential food items such as meat, pasta, flour and rice with the help of Australian businesses.

The demand for these staple ingredients is outstripping supply, hindering Foodbank’s ability to provide nutritious meals, meaning 65,000 people are being turned away every month due to lack of food relief – and 17,550 of them are children.

Sodexo Australia chief financial officer and country president, Mark Chalmers, said his organisation was “very humbled to help Australians in need and we couldn’t be more grateful to support such an innovative program”. 

“Ending world hunger is one of the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals, which forms part of Sodexo’s Better Tomorrow 2025 Corporate Responsibility Road Map,” Mr Chalmers said.

“As a global company, it’s a collective goal we’re committed to achieving,” he said.

“Globally, Sodexo serves 100 million consumers every day, so we understand the importance of the staple ingredients required to prepare nutritious meals.”

Foodbank Australia chief executive officer, Brianna Casey said the organisation was thrilled to partner with Sodexo to help achieve their target of 50 million kilograms of food and groceries to vulnerable people each year.

“More than 3.6 million people experience food insecurity at some point every year, with one in five Australian children facing the same struggle,” Ms Casey said.

“The demand for food relief is rising, with charities reporting a 10 percent increase in demand last year. There is a real need to provide staple ingredients to these charities so they can be used to help put nutritious meals on the dinner tables of those in need.”

Foodbank’s Key Staples Program works by partnering with companies such as Sodexo Australia to supplement the gap between the amount of staple foods rescued and what is needed by the charities and community groups to provide filling and nutritious meals.

To address this, Foodbank partners with food companies who donate or subsidise the ingredients and services to produce, process, package, and transport essential items. 

Building on the Sodexo’s entire ecosystem – employees, families and friends, clients, consumers and suppliers – Sodexo’s Stop Hunger program has built a model of partnership between public and private partners with a unique potential for action.

Sodexo’s Stop Hunger program engages 427,000 Sodexo employee volunteers in 41 countries, contributing 100 percent of donations to NGO partners. Globally, Sodexo’s Stop Hunger program supports 1,200 NGOs and associations in the field.

“We’ve enjoyed a longstanding relationship with Foodbank Australia, spanning five years through our Stop Hunger program and we’re proud to continue our relationship in funding the Key Staples Program,” Sodexo’s Mr Chalmers said.

“By working with Foodbank, we are well placed to achieve our Better Tomorrow 2025 commitments. We encourage other corporate companies to support Foodbank and its Key Staples Program, as we can only stop hunger by working together and taking positive actions today.”

Mr Chalmers said the partnership was part of Sodexo’s Better Tomorrow 2025 strategy, the company’s roadmap for the next stage of its corporate responsibility journey covering issues ranging from stopping hunger to reducing waste and increasing gender diversity.

In Australia, Sodexo employs a diverse workforce of more than 5,000 people to deliver a unique array of over 100 integrated services lines including: catering, facilities management, concierge services, security, asset maintenance and hospitality services in the segments of Corporate, Healthcare and Seniors, Education, Government and Justice, and Energy and Resources both on and off shore.

Founded in Marseille in 1966 by Pierre Bellon, Sodexo is a global leader in services that improve ‘quality of life’ – seen as an essential factor in individual and organisational performance.

Sodexo is in 80 countries and is ranked the 19^th largest employer worldwide with a total of 427,000 people.

For more information in Sodexo’s Better Tomorrow 2025: https://www.sodexo.com/home/corporate-responsibility.html

For more information on Sodexo’s Stop Hunger program: http://www.stop-hunger.org/home.html

For more information on Foodbank’s Key Staples Program: https://www.foodbank.org.au/want-tohelp/ donate-food/key-staples-program/

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