Sodexo helps Food Banks Netherlands

including those with ordinary jobs, are not making ends meet due to all the rising costs and inflation. If you don’t have enough food, it dominates everything, and there’s no energy left to tackle other problems. Basically, we give emergency aid and the goal is for people to be self-sufficient again within three years. We see that half of our clients are able to manage on their own again within a year. But long-term poverty is growing; the group that needs our help for three years has increased from 8% to 20%.’

In what ways can organisations support food banks?

Bowls of soup for the food bank

Sodexo collaborates with Soupalicious, a social enterprise that makes tasty chilled soups from leftover vegetables. A bowl of Soupalicious soup for our guests isn’t just a fresh, healthy meal. It’s also combating food waste, a job opportunity for someone who is disadvantaged on the labour market and the donation of an extra bowl of soup to the food bank. The Sodexo restaurant in EDGE Amsterdam West has already sold 15,000 bowls of soup since March 2022.

Caroline van der Graaf-Scheffer is a board member of Fundraising at Food Banks Netherlands. In 2022, Sodexo’s “Moving for Stop Hunger” campaign raised €14,000 for food banks.

What does the partnership between Sodexo and Food Banks Netherlands mean to you?

‘It is inspiring that such a large organisation is willing to participate in solving a social problem, namely the fact that many people in the Netherlands do not have enough food. With the fantastic proceeds from

“Get Moving for Stop Hunger”, which involved employees from all levels of Sodexo, we can provide food to 56 families every week for a year! I look forward to continuing to shape the partnership with Sodexo with the same enthusiasm next year.’

How necessary are food banks in the Netherlands?

‘Last year, the number of food bank clients grew by 30 percent. We have never seen such a rise. We support some 125,000 people every week, a third of which involve children. I think the group that would qualify for assistance is actually much larger. But people are afraid to come forward, often because of shame. More and more people,

‘There are companies that support us financially, set up foundations or reimburse trucks and fuel costs. We can put that to good use, because with 172 local food banks and 10 distribution centres across the country, our operational and logistics costs are high. Local food banks also use dedicated financial donations to purchase additional food. Other companies, such as Sodexo, give their employees the opportunity to help pack at a local food bank. We can really use that kind of help, as well as specific expertise in logistics, finance and coordination. We are all volunteers. There are now about 13,000 of us, and it’s really motivating when employees of companies want to volunteer for us in addition to their regular work.’

‘When we started out in 2015, Sodexo supported us tremendously as our first caterer. It’s wonderful that together we’re going to make a considerable social impact again in the coming period.’

Milco Aarts, Director/Founder of Soupalicious.

That's how to make a cup of soup taste just that little bit better!