Environmental social enterprise, FoodCloud, have announced that seven years after its establishment in 2013 as a response to the issue of food waste, they have redistributed the equivalent of 100 million meals to their network of Community Group and Charity Partners across Ireland and the UK, the equivalent of 20 meals for every person in Ireland.

2020 has been an extraordinary year for FoodCloud as they worked to navigate the complexities of Covid-19. From extreme peaks and troughs in the supply of food, limited volunteers and restrictive Covid-19 work practices, the social enterprise has seen some of their highest and lowest volumes of food this year amid panic buying and the closure of the hospitality sector.

As a result, during the peak of the pandemic in April and May, FoodCloud more than doubled the amount of food redistributed from an average of 25 tonnes per week in February to over 60 tonnes per week. Their three Hubs in Cork, Dublin and Galway, have distributed 75% more food than in 2019 to over 650 charities and community groups across Ireland.

Internationally, their partners redistributed 26.2 million meals this year through their technology platform. An additional 2,500 tonnes of food, the equivalent of a 38% increase from 2019.

FoodCloud works with retail and food businesses across the supply chain to help them redistribute their surplus food to their network of more than 9,500 Charities and Community Groups across Ireland and internationally.

According to global research agency Project Drawdown, reducing food waste has been established as the number three solution to reversing global warming. Food that finds its way to landfill releases environmentally-damaging greenhouse gases and CO2 into the atmosphere. By rescuing this 42,000 tonnes of food from going to waste, approximately 134,397 tonnes of CO2 - equivalent has been avoided.

Iseult Ward, FoodCloud CEO, said:
‘I am so proud to announce that on Christmas Eve 2020, FoodCloud is on track to reach the incredible milestone of 100M meals. None of this could have been achieved without the guidance and commitment of so many, and it gives me great hope for our future - a future where we will work together to build community resilience and solidarity, providing food as an essential tool in doing so.’

FoodCloud co-founder and CEO Iseult Ward was awarded the Social Responsibility Award at the UK’s Department for International Trade inaugural European Tech Women Awards in September of this year.

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