Kraft Heinz donates 11,454 meals to Northern Illinois Food Bank in Geneva

Food company donates more than 700K meals to 16 food pantries

By Kane County Chronicle

September 28, 2021 at 5:16 pm CDT

Twins George and Vincenzo Fatta, 8 of Geneva clean and check un-labeled cans of food while volunteering with their family at the Northern Illinois Food Bank in Geneva March 31. The Kraft Heinz Company announced a donation of 11,454 meals to the Northern Illinois Food Bank in recognition of September being Hunger Action Month. (Mark Black for Shaw Local)

GENEVA – The Kraft Heinz Company announced a donation of 11,454 meals to the Northern Illinois Food Bank in Geneva, part of the company’s donation of over 700,000 meals to food pantries in 16 locations, according to a news release.

Heinz made the donation from its surplus of food service products to address food scarcity in honor of September being Hunger Action Month. The donation was made with the help of its longtime partner, Feeding America. The food and beverage company has donated over seven million pounds of food and excess inventory in 2021 alone to help food banks combat hunger nationwide, the release stated.

“With September being Hunger Action Month, this effort emphasized our continued commitment to eradicating global hunger through both our ESG strategy and our work with Feeding America,” Rashida La Lande stated in the release. “Whether through product donations or volunteerism, our goal is to support the communities where our consumers and employees live, work and thrive.”

La Lande is Global General Counsel and Head of ESG and Government Affairs for Kraft Heinz.

Though the foodservice industry faces its own challenges brought on by the pandemic, Kraft Heinz has remained steadfast in its commitment to leveraging its inventory and resources to aid the millions of households in the U.S. facing hunger nationwide, the release stated.

The company is dedicated to alleviating hunger for years to come and recently expanded its ambition to provide 1.5 billion nutritious meals to people in need by 2025, building upon its original goal to deliver 1 billion nutritious meals by 2021.

“Our food service business has also seen changes in demand brought on by the pandemic, which can result in an excess of food supply,” Peter Hall stated in the release. “To avoid food waste, our team quickly pivoted to reallocate this product to local communities within the Feeding America food bank network.”

Hall is president of Away from Home for Kraft Heinz.

Feeding America projects that, due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, more than 42 million people, including a potential 13 million children, may experience food insecurity in 2021.