In-store donation initiative invites customers of a hypermarket chain to buy extra for others
CUSTOMERS of a hypermarket chain are being encouraged to turn everyday shopping into everyday giving.
Lotus’s Malaysia and Kechara Soup Kitchen mark this year’s World Food Day and their 10-year partnership with an in-store food donation initiative that invites customers to take the opportunity to give to others when they shop.
For the past decade, the hypermarket chain and Kechara Soup Kitchen had worked together to ensure that safe, edible surplus food reached communities in need.
Kechara Soup Kitchen regularly collects surplus food from 19 Lotus’s stores, helping to redirect food that will otherwise go to waste.
In a media statement, Lotus’s Malaysia corporate services executive director Azliza Baizura Azmel said, “World Food Day reminds us that how we value, manage and share food matters.
“This year is particularly meaningful as we mark 10 years of collaboration with our charity partner, Kechara Soup Kitchen.
“Most of us walk into a supermarket thinking about what we need for our own table.
“This campaign invites us to think about someone else’s too.
“Through this initiative, we are making it easier for customers to add one more item for someone else.”
All customer donations will be channelled through Kechara Soup Kitchen’s food bank operations and distributed as dry food packs to families in need across urban and rural communities.
The initiative builds on Lotus’s wider commitment to reduce food waste.
Since 2016, Lotus’s has redirected 2.4 million kilogrammes of food to over 120,000 families, demonstrating the scale of impact that can be created through sustained collaboration between businesses and community partners.
Together with community partners, including Kechara Soup Kitchen and Food Aid Foundation, Lotus’s redirects safe, edible surplus food, including fruits, vegetables and bakery items, away from landfills and towards communities in need.
Kechara Soup Kitchen general manager Justin Cheah said, “Our partnership with Lotus’s reflects what can be achieved when a partnership is built around a shared purpose and sustained over time.
“We ensure that food which can still serve a purpose reaches communities that can benefit from it.
“A packet of rice, a bottle of cooking oil or another essential food item may seem small on its own, but when many customers choose to give, those contributions add up.”
Through the “Tambah Satu, Kongsi Satu” (Add one, share one) campaign, customers at participating stores can purchase additional essential dry-food items to be placed in a designated donation bin.
Among the suggested food items for contribution are rice, noodles or pasta, canned food, cooking oil and UHT milk.
The campaign runs until Nov 16.
