The Richmond Food Recovery Network

The City of Richmond is leading the way to tackle food waste in Metro Vancouver

About the Network

In partnership with FoodMesh, the City of Richmond built a Food Recovery Network of Richmond-based food businesses, charities and farmers to connect those with surplus food, kitchen equipment and packaging, with those who can use it.
Read the media release HERE
As a member of the network, you could divert your surplus instead of disposing, puchase products, and receive donations by joining:

The FoodMesh Marketplace

Open to any food business, charity or farmer, it's an online platform on which you can buy, sell, donate, or claim donated unsold surplus food, kitchen equipment and packaging.
It's free to join the Marketplace.
Learn More!

The Retail Food Recovery Program

Food retailers can sign up to have all of their surplus/unsold food collected, so they don’t have to waste any of it.
A charity takes the food, is responsible for sorting and distributing it to other charities for meals, and/or to farmers for animal feed or compost
Learn More

Join the Network!

Image
From November 2019 to November 2020, The Richmond Food Recovery Network was expected to:
  • Save 225,000kg of food from being thrown away
  • Recover 300,000 worth of meals to feed Richmond’s hungry
  • Generate $1.25 million in savings to Richmond-based food businesses and charities
  • Provide 50,000kg of feed to Richmond’s hobby farmers

SEE THE RESULTS BELOW…

Join here!

Businesses, Charities, Farmers – if you need:

  • Food For Meals
  • Food For Animal Feed
  • Food For Compost
  • Kitchen Equipment
  • Food Packaging
  • Wholesale Products

Suppliers, Processors, Retailers – if you have:

  • Overstock
  • Mislabelled Products
  • Distressed Products
  • Imperfect Products
  • Used Kitchen Equipment
  • Unused Packaging

Join the Richmond Food Recovery Network

Register My Organization!

An Opportunity for the Community

The Richmond Food Recovery Network supports the City’s strategic plan to be a sustainable and environmentally-conscious city.

“As the mayor the City of Richmond and Chair of the National Zero Waste Council, I personally endorse FoodMesh for taking a needed approach to addressing food waste that affects us all.

This combination of entrepreneurialism and innovation on the part of FoodMesh is welcome and the type of thinking needed to reduce food waste and creating a closed loop food system.”

Mayor Malcom Brodie

The launch of the Richmond Food Recovery Network couldn't come at a better time. Because we are in a food waste crisis.
Over half of that wasted food is avoidable but is discarded because it is easier and cheaper to waste the food than to redistribute it.
Meanwhile, the need for food is at an all-time high.
3,484 people accessed the Richmond Food Bank over 27,000 times in 2018. The City of Richmond is taking a stand.

BCFB Town Hall 

On October 22nd, 2020, Katie Ferland, Economic Development Manager for the City of Richmond, opened a discussion on how food businesses can incorporate circularity into their current processes.
Hosted by the BCFB as part of their Town Hall Series, FoodMesh CEO, Jessica Regan, moderated the webinar’s inspiring speakers; Hajira Hussein of Richmond Food Bank, Mark Wandler of Susgrainable and Alexa Pitoulis of Fresh Roots Urban Farms.
A circular economy builds long-term resilience, generates better growth opportunities, and provides environmental and societal benefits.
How can the food industry engage in circular practices while meeting business objectives and customer demands?

Presentation from the first Lunch and Learn 

FoodMesh and Vancouver Coastal Health presented an online conference, in April,2020, to find out the food needs and resources within the City of Richmond.
Representatives from Provincial and Local Government, as well as Charities and Nonprofits attended the online session, led by Jessica Regan of FoodMesh.
Audio recorded during the online conference, with Jessica Regan of FoodMesh facilitating.

FAQ

58% of all food produced in Canada is never consumed
The Avoidable Food Crisis of Food Waste: Technical Report

HERE’S WHAT THE NETWORK HAS ACCOMPLISHED IN ONE YEAR!

Image
Donation value
$2,1,552
Image
Emissions saved
0,423
KG of Co2-E
Image
meals provided
0,425
*meal size 600 gr
Image
Food Rescued
0,960
KG
As a member of the Richmond Food Recovery Network, depending on your type of organization, you can participate in one, or both of the programs:
The FoodMesh Marketplace: is open to any food business, charity or farmer, and is the online platform on which you can buy, sell, donate or claim donated unsold surplus food. Food suppliers can choose to either sell their food to another business, or donate it to charity. Registration to join the Marketplace is completely free.
The Retail Food Recovery Program: Food retailers can sign up to have all of their surplus/unsold food collected, so they don’t have to waste any of it. A charity takes the food, is responsible for sorting it and distributing it to other charities for meals, and/or to farmers for animal feed or compost. The retailer pays a flat rate to have their surplus food taken away, and the charity responsible for sorting and distributing the food, is paid for their time.
To learn more about these programs, or to explore which one will best suit your needs, register using the link at the bottom, or contact FoodMesh at Richmond@foodmesh.ca, and a member of the team will happily assist you.
I’d like to join the network now!