Magnit, one of the leading retailers in Russia, has donated 2.3 thousand tons of food to those in need in the four years since the launch of retail foodsharing. Thanks to foodsharing, more than 1 million people have received assistance from Magnit: large families, single pensioners and people in difficult situations.
Retail foodsharing (food–saving technology) is the free transfer of high-quality and safe products from stores, where they remain unclaimed, directly to people in need with the help of volunteers. Foodsharing simultaneously solves two tasks: it helps people in need of support, and reduces food losses, which means the burden on the environment.
The bulk of the food transferred from Magnit within the framework of food-sharing (about 70%) accounts for bakery products, vegetables and fruits, which helps people to make a balanced diet. In total, the food basket includes 300 items. In addition, Magnit provides some non-food products to those in need (personal care products, household chemicals, home textiles, tableware, paper products, etc.). These products are usable and safe, but have a limited shelf life or minor damage (for example, small chips, scratches, or packaging defects).
Today, Magnit's food–sharing technology covers 48 facilities, mostly large-format stores, in 19 cities. In Moscow and St. Petersburg, food collection within the framework of foodsharing is carried out on the basis of darkstores (in Moscow, 20 darkstores are connected to the project, in St. Petersburg - 9 darkstores and one large–format store).
Magnit's food-sharing partner is the Rus Food Bank Charitable Foundation. The foundation's volunteers promptly hand over products to the beneficiaries on the day of assembly in darkstores and stores. All products undergo double quality control by Magnit employees and Rus Food Bank volunteers. In the four years since the launch of foodsharing, more than 8,000 volunteers have participated in the project.
Eduard Kostenko, Head of Environmental Projects at Magnit Group of Companies:
"Foodsharing helps to solve two socially important tasks at once: first of all, it helps vulnerable categories of citizens and at the same time it is a tool to reduce the negative impact on the environment by reducing food losses. Foodsharing allows us to redistribute high-quality and safe products that would have remained unclaimed in stores in favor of those in need and helps reduce the amount of food waste in landfills."
