Metro brands food recuperation efforts
Metro is hoping to take a bigger bite out of food waste in Quebec and Ontario thanks to a slick new video about its longstanding food recovery program.
"We're trying to raise awareness among our employees, but the public too, about how we're making a real difference," said Metro spokesperson Geneviève Grégoire.
The 3-minute bilingual video highlights Metro's One More Bite program.
Launched several years ago, the newly-branded program recovers meat, prepared dishes, dairy, bakery products and other fresh foods that would otherwise be thrown out or composted—but is still good to eat—at more than 70 Metro and Super C stores across Quebec and 30 more stores in Ontario.
The food is then redistributed to food bank outlets and other community organizations to be cooked and offered as meals to those in need.
The program is particularly active in Quebec, where Metro and Loblaw are the two founding pillars and mainstays of the province's highly successful food recuperation program.
Founded by Moisson Montréal in 2013, the program involves more than 1,000 organizations that provides some 1.7 million meals a month through 342,000 food baskets, 856,000 meals, and a half-million snacks for kids, mostly through homework services and day camps.
According to Grégoire, Metro had been actively recuperating food at its stores a decade before the Moisson Montréal program began.
"We have a well-oiled machine," she told Canadian Grocer.
She said the new video and branding of the One Bite More program are meant to spread the word about the food-fighting efforts to the 65,000 employees of the grocery giant, which boasts annual sales of more than $12 billion through its food and pharmaceutical network of 590 stores under several banners in Quebec and Ontario.
"The ultimate priority for us to raise awareness about what we're doing," said Grégoire. "The very nature of our activities results in the creation of food waste. Our objective is to get as much of it as possible to people for them to eat."