Food Bank Distributes Food Worth HUF 10 billion

Last year, the Hungarian Food Bank Association saved and distributed food worth around ten billion forints to the needy, helping around 240,000 people in need.

Last year, the Association saved almost one and a half times as much food as in the previous year to keep up with the growing needs of the needy, the organization told MTI.

The Hungarian Food Bank Association was set up by a few friends in September 2005 to collect food that had become surplus in the trade and distribute it to people in need. The organization mainly searches for products that are close to expiry, have faulty packaging and are left over from promotions and festive offers, so that they can be sent to the tables of people in need rather than to the incinerator. It also prevents the environmental impact of disposing of surplus food.

Last year, an average of 24,000 kilograms of rescued food was distributed daily in hundreds of locations across the country, totaling 8.7 million kilograms a year. Last year, three quarters of the goods rescued were still bakery products and fruit and vegetables, with the remaining items mainly consisting of preserved food, dairy products, beverages and meat. Most of these are staple foods, most of which deprived people can rarely or never afford, especially in a year of record inflation.

in 2022, the Food Bank added another 225 stores to its network, increasing the number of shops from which surpluses are collected every day by a factor of one and a half. Now, after Tesco, Aldi, Metro, Auchan, KFC and Foodpanda, Lidl and Penny have also become major donors. In addition to the retail chains' units, a further 94 companies have also had their goods rescued during the year, from food manufacturers, retailers, farmers and restaurants.

The food collected is distributed through a national network of 600 charities to organizations such as children's homes, family support services, organizations for people with disabilities, homeless care centers, elderly care, large family associations and municipalities in deprived areas of the country. In the eighteen years since its foundation, the association has rescued and distributed almost 100 million kilograms of food to people in need with the help of its volunteers and charities.