Unlock access to a supply of nutritious food donations, so you can focus on getting them to the people in our communities who need them.
Charitable organizations
Get a regular supply of fresh food donations from your local grocery store
Ideal for organizations with the time, facilities and volunteers to collect, sort and distribute large volumes of food donations.
Buy discounted food and claim donations on our online Marketplace
Ideal for organizations with little or no budget to buy food, who can accept large volumes of food on an ad hoc basis.
Check you’re eligible to access food donations
To access food donations via FoodMesh’s programs, you must use them to have a social impact, not to make a profit, and you must be either:
A registered charity
A non-profit organization
A social impact business
Another type of organization using the donations for a social impact cause
Get a regular supply of food donations from your local grocery store
How it works
“I really love FoodMesh! My first donation pickup was worth just over $9000 and the clients LOVED the items!’
– Avalon Lawrence
Mission Community Services Society
Donations typically include
Bakery
Dairy
Meat and fish
Deli
Produce
Grocery
Our perishable offering has increased 10 times… clients are happy, we are happy.
– Hajira Hussein
Richmond Food Bank
What’s required to participate
If you’re connected with stores donating
edible food only
What you need to participate
- Regular and reliable access to a vehicle large enough to transport up to 30 boxes
- A driver to pick up the donations
- Space at your facility to store up to 30 boxes and sort the food inside (unless you operate as a “food runner”)
- A walk-in cooler and a walk-in freezer (or alternatively 2 upright fridges and 2 chest freezers). If you operate as a “food runner”, this would not be necessary.
- If using totes, the space and facilities to clean them
- A scale to weigh the food, if you want to weigh it at your facility. However, most use the FoodMesh-provided scale kept at the store
- Official food safety certification(s)
If you’re connected with stores donating
edible and inedible food
What you need to participate
- Regular and reliable access to a vehicle large enough to transport up to 35+ boxes (a 1-tonne or larger is preferable)
- A driver to pick up the donations
- Space at your facility to store up to 35+ boxes and sort the food inside (unless you operate as a “food runner”)
- A walk-in cooler and a walk-in freezer (or alternatively 2-3 upright fridges and 2-3 chest freezers). If you operate as a “food runner”, this would not be necessary.
- Space to store inedible food for farmers to collect
- Regular compost pickup service
- If using totes, the space and facilities to clean them
- A scale to weigh the food, if you want to weigh it at your facility. However, most use the FoodMesh-provided scale kept at the store
- Official food safety certification(s)
What you need to do
- Consistently pick up the store’s edible food donations on your scheduled day(s) per week (including statutory holidays)
- Weigh all the donations you pick up and record the data in our easy-to-use Diversion Tracker app, within 24 hours of receipt
- Share the donations with your clients and other local organizations in need
- Find a replacement charitable organization to pick up donations in the event you’re not available
- Adhere to food safety guidelines when handling, transporting, storing and distributing the donations
What you need to do
- Consistently pick up the store’s edible food donations, farm feed and compost from all store departments on your scheduled day(s) per week (including statutory holidays)
- Weigh all the donations you pick up and record the data in our easy-to-use Diversion Tracker app, within 24 hours of receipt
- Share the edible donations with your clients and other local organizations in need
- Share the farm feed with farmers, and compost the products farmers can’t use
- Find a replacement charitable organization to pick up and distribute donations in the event you’re not available
- Adhere to food safety guidelines when handling, transporting, storing and distributing the donations
If you are unable to commit to making regular pickups from a store but are looking for a regular supply of fresh food donations, let us know. We may be able to connect you to another charitable organization to receive some of their supply. Contact us.
The amazing team at FoodMesh partners CityReach Food for Families with retailers so we can add quantity, quality and diversity to our food program. We just couldn’t make those connections to large retailers like Save-On-Foods and Fresh St. Market on our own. 30% of our rescued food and almost all our rescued protein is through the FoodMesh program. FoodMesh not only keeps our planet green, they are providing our guests with nutritious food as we partner to reduce food insecurity.
– Sharon Dong, CityReach Care Society
Donation program FAQs
What is FoodMesh's role in the program?
FoodMesh is employed by the participating retailer to:
- Be their single point of contact across their stores, their local charity and farmer partners
- Set up the program and the donation recipient network across their stores
- Order/create all the necessary materials to prepare the stores for the program
- Train store staff on best practices for sorting and donating food
- Train donation recipients on the Diversion Tracker App
- Lead the initial orientation session with the store and donation recipients
- Complete in-person visits to the store for the program launch and orientation by our dedicated program trainer
- Provide ongoing operational support in areas such as:
- Technical support for the Diversion Tracker App
- Farmer onboarding, scheduling and management (where needed)
- Fresher training for store staff (where needed)
- Support with charity’s diversion network (where needed)
- Monthly reports to charities including all donation data
- Monthly reports to stores including their social impact metrics
- Guarantee that all their donations are collected and the data for them inputted into the Diversion Tracker App
How do I find a store with a food donation program?
Please register your interest with FoodMesh by joining our network here. We will contact you if pickups become available at a store in your area. Please note that there is a waiting list in some areas. However, while on the waiting list, we may also contact you for ad-hoc pickup coverage opportunities. If you already signed up with FoodMesh in the past, please email us at support@foodmesh.ca.
What happens after I join the network?
FoodMesh will contact you if a suitable pickup opportunity become available in your area. Please note that there is a waiting list in some areas.
How often am I expected to pick up food donations from a store?
It depends on your capacity and availability. Stores require their food donations to be picked up daily and so if you are able and willing to fulfill those picks-ups, then you can pick up food donations every day of the week. If you are not able to pick up food donations every day, you can be partnered with another charitable organization to pick up food donations on the days you’re not available.
How much donated food can I expect to receive from a store?
It depends on the size of the store. If you have a specific store in mind, please enquire with your FoodMesh contact for an estimate of the expected volume.
What am I expected to do with food that is inedible?
If you are picking up from a store that is diverting all of its unsold food (both edible and inedible), then we will recruit a network of farmers to collect the food that is inedible, so it can be used for animal feed.
What do we do with any remaining food that can’t be used for meals or animal feed?
Any food that is not suitable for human or animal consumption should be composted. If you don’t have a composting service in place already, we can help you to find a local option.
What do I do if I have more donations than I need?
We ask that all organizations who pick up donations from a store share their excess with other charities in their area. If you need help connecting to other organizations, please let us know.
Do I need to have my own vehicle to collect donations?
You will need reliable access to a vehicle large enough to transport all of the donations received. For a single store donating only edible food, we recommend a cube van or minivan at minimum, or a 1-tonne truck if you are picking up from more than one store. For a single store donating all of its unsold food (both edible and inedible), a cube van or minivan may suffice, but we recommend a 1-tonne truck.
How do I track the food donations I receive?
When you collect the food donations from the store, you are required to weigh the food and input the weight, and the number of totes via our very easy-to-use Diversion Tracker App.
We will provide you with a monthly summary of all of your donations received that have been tracked through the Diversion Tracker App along with a summary of your overall impact metrics (e.g. the number of meals provided, the weight of food diverted, CO2 emissions saved etc.)
What kind of device do we need to use the Diversion Tracker App?
You can install the Diversion Tracker App on any smart device (e.g. a smartphone or a tablet), or you can also use your personal computer. Access to the app is by invitation only.
What sort of containers are the food donations provided in?
The donations are usually provided in banana boxes, as the store has access to a consistent supply of them. Banana boxes do not have to be cleaned and returned to the store. For donations that are wet or juicy, we ask the store to line the box with a clean bag, to avoid any mess.
I am unable to fulfil one of my scheduled pickups. What should I do?
You are responsible for finding another charitable organization to fulfil your pick-up on your behalf. If you are having any trouble finding a replacement charitable organization, please let us know as soon as possible.
FoodMesh has impacted us in many good ways. We are getting more food from stores we did not get food from before. We are able to assist local farmers in feeding their animals from what is not edible from what we pick up. FoodMesh has been a good experience and we really look forward to working with them in the future.
Jim Calamunce, Executive Director of the Langley Food Bank
Ready to start receiving fresh food donations?
Contact us if you have any questions about how this program works.
Buy discounted food and claim donations online
How it works
Browse a wide range of products that are available for you to buy at a low cost or claim as donations.
Browse
Browse a wide range of suppliers’ surplus products that are available for sale or donation.
Review
Review the supplier’s terms, including minimum order size and whether the supplier is willing to negotiate on quantity and price (if applicable).
Select
Select your desired product(s), contact the supplier to arrange pick up (or delivery, if they offer it), and go to the checkout.
Success
If applicable, securely use your credit card to pay for products you choose to purchase.
Benefits of using the Marketplace
Decrease your food procurement costs - buy or receive donated food, equipment and packaging
Completely free to use - you only pay for the items you choose to buy
Access high-quality products
Make informed, pressure-free decisions
Follow companies you know and trust
We are a grass-roots not-for-profit that works with FoodMesh to redistribute food to my clients. Our clients are so grateful to receive the high-quality foods that we distribute to them, and we witness their decrease in food insecurity. Just removing this anxiety from their life is transformative, and has allowed many of them to make positive changes in their life. The app is simple to use, and the monthly reports received from FoodMesh are so helpful in further marketing our NFP. Thank you FoodMesh for your ingenuity and forward-thinking on this common problem.
Jolene Friesen, Swallowtail Trauma Integration Society
Marketplace FAQ
Who can claim donations through the Marketplace
To access food donations via the Marketplace, you must be either:
- a registered charity
- a non-profit organization
- a social impact business
- another type of organization using the donations for a social impact cause
How to browse listings on the Marketplace
You need to create an account on the Marketplace before you can browse the listings. Signing up is quick, easy and completely free to do.
Register for the Marketplace
Once you’ve clicked on the return email to verify it, you will have access to browse listings within 24 hours (if you register on a Friday, it may take until Monday for your verification to go through).
You can then log in to the Marketplace and browse what’s available to buy. If you’re a registered charity or a non-profit organization, you can also browse products that are listed for donation.
How to buy/claim a donated product
Add your desired products to your shopping cart. When you are ready to process your order, click on the shopping cart icon in the top right corner of the Marketplace. Review your order, and click on the ‘Checkout’ button, and follow the steps to submit your order.
How payment works
There are minimum orders placed by each supplier, and some offer O.B.O. on quantity and price – so you can put in an offer.
You can complete the payment for paid products using a credit card. Your card is charged once the supplier ‘accepts’ your order.
Once the payment is processed, you will receive a receipt directly from Stripe (our payment provider).
How delivery works
On the details of the listing you are interested in, the supplier chooses whether they offer delivery or pickup only. Please message the supplier directly if you have any questions about their chosen option.
How your organization’s information is kept confidential
The information you input into the Marketplace will not be shared with anyone outside of FoodMesh.
How to issue a tax receipt to a supplier for the donations you receive from them
We’ve created a pre-formatted receipt that you can easily fill in to create a tax receipt to give to suppliers for donations you receive from them. Follow these steps:
- Please download the file and save this form to your computer
- Save a copy with the name of the supplier who donated the food to you
- Fill in the form in the grey shaded areas
- Save it as a .pdf.
- Upload it to the Marketplace on the order receipt that it pertains to
- The supplier will then receive an email notification that you’ve uploaded it for them, and they can download it and keep it for their records.