FoodCloud, the social enterprise that distributes waste food to thousands of charities, has secured a significant investment from AIB, which will be part-matched by the Government through Social Innovation Fund Ireland (SIFI).
FoodCloud will be the first recipient of funding under the Social Innovation Fund Ireland’s new Growth Fund.
Over the next three years, AIB has committed to investing €500,000 per annum in FoodCloud, which has been welcomed by the Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development, Michael Canney.
“FoodCloud is a wonderful example of the impact of social enterprise in Ireland. A simple concept to match retailers with surplus food and charities has seen some 40 million meals distributed to date,” Canney said.
“Food donations provide essential support to charities by enabling them to save money on their food bills, in some instances up to 80%, which they instead can redirect to improving their services to the people they support.
“I am delighted that my Department, through Social Innovation Fund Ireland, will help FoodCloud broaden its reach and deepen its impact.”
FoodCloud
The funding will enable FoodCloud to invest in future-proofing their bespoke retailer technology and build a resilient tech solution that can support the projected growth in 2018-2020.
According to FoodCloud, Ireland generates over one million tonnes of waste annually, while one in eight people are experiencing food poverty daily.
The charitable organisation started in Ireland in 2013 and has warehouse distribution hubs in Cork, Galway, and Dublin.
It works directly with farmers and the food industry to rescue and then redistribute surplus to charities and community groups all over Ireland.
This redistribution allows charities to reallocate funding, that would otherwise have been spent on food, towards their core service and support their underlying mission.
FoodCloud recently signed a partnership deal with forecourt retailer Applegreen, which saw the social enterprise receive a donation of €60,000, which allowed the group to buy three refrigerated vans for its warehouse Hubs.
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
