Danone Ireland is delivering a nutrition education programme to support charity partner FoodCloud’s network of community and voluntary organisations (CVOs).
The programme aims to meet the evolving needs of service users through tailored nutritional guidance and recipes.
FoodCloud enables over 700 community partners in Ireland to access nutritious food, helping organisations to reduce waste and support as many people as possible.
With the charity, organisations use surplus food to provide meals or food parcels for breakfast or after-school clubs, or directly to service users, for personal use.
Education Programme
Danone is the first company in Ireland to support the charity with a nutrition education programme, including nutritional advice, recipes, and expert-led webinars.
In the last year, Danone’s registered nutritionists and dieticians developed 12 nutritionally balanced recipes to help community groups make the most of surplus products.
In a recent FoodCloud survey, over one fifth of respondent CVOs noted that people aged 65 and over were the primary users of their services.
Most recently, Danone has been working to address the specific nutritional needs of this age cohort.
Currently 145,000 people are estimated to be malnourished or at risk of malnutrition.
Understanding the varying needs of the different demographics that use the service can help CVOs recognise the nutritional needs of their service users.
According to FoodCloud’s latest annual charity survey, 70% of respondents experienced increased demand for their services in 2023.
Almost a quarter (23%) of those surveyed said that they were unable to meet this increase.
Some 73% said that they expect demand to increase further in 2024.
‘Making The Most Of Surplus Food’
Killian Barry, managing director of Danone Ireland, said, “As a health-focused company with a mission to bring health, through food, to as many people as possible, this partnership provides a unique opportunity to extend our expertise to help the wider community and deliver a meaningful impact.”
Barry added that Danone and FoodCloud were committed to reducing food waste, which they hope to do while “addressing food insecurity.”
He said, “As one of the largest B Corps in Ireland, we are committed to giving back to the community through meaningful partnerships.”
Aoibheann O’Brien, co-founder and director of development and innovation at FoodCloud, also welcomed the new initiative.
O’Brien said, “FoodCloud’s partnership with Danone is an important step for us in achieving our vision of a world where no good food goes to waste.
“In addition to providing surplus food to our community partners, FoodCloud, in conjunction with Danone’s registered dieticians and nutritionists, offer help and support to our partners in making the most of surplus food and preparing nutritionally balanced meals for their service users.”
Danone has worked with FoodCloud since 2020, supporting the redistribution of 138 tonnes of surplus food.
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