Food insecurity is a global problem that continues to grow, every year. As many as 2.3 billion people around the world experienced moderate to severe food insecurity throughout 2023, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024 report. Because of this, people are turning to food banks to meet their needs. As pandemic-era food aid is rolled back and inflation rises, there has been a spike in demand at food banks around the world.

Lineage, the world’s largest global temperature-controlled warehouse REIT, and a major force in the global food supply chain, took a proactive approach to the food insecurity problem. Through their charitable arm, the Lineage Foundation for Good, they created the Customer Product Donation program to empower Lineage customers, team members, leaders and the wider community to recover safe, quality food.

From Surplus to Support

Lineage’s Customer Product Donation program aims to relieve food insecurity while reducing food waste. The way the program works is this: the Lineage Foundation for Good created a proactive program to both encourage and facilitate large-scale product donations from customers in the more than 400 temperature-controlled Lineage warehouses around the world. The program allows their customers to send food directly to communities who need it most through charitable organizations, like food banks.

With the help of Lineage team members, customers storing food in a Lineage facility can choose to donate safe-to-eat products that are nearing expiration or have minor imperfections, like packaging issues or labeling errors. Instead of sending these nutritious and safe-to-eat products to landfills, they are put to good use in their partner’s global Network of food banks, charities and community centers.

Not only does this initiative help protect the environment from unnecessary waste, it also supports and serves food insecure communities around the world.

Lineage Foundation for Good’s Customer Product Donation Program

The donation process begins when the customer or Lineage team members identify products with the potential for donation. These products are typically nearing expiration or have minor imperfections to the packaging or labeling. The Lineage Foundation for Good team then works with the customer to confirm the donation.

The Foundation then takes title of the food, halting storage fees of those donated products for up to 90 days. Foundation team members and Lineage put their supply chain expertise to work to coordinate the logistics of the donation. They handle everything from safely storing the product, shipping the inventory, and arranging for pickup with a local food bank or charitable organization. The Lineage Foundation for Good taps into a large network of partners, including local community centers, soup kitchens, food banks and other charities – to send donated food to those who need it most. Every step of the process, from identification to donation, is managed and facilitated by Lineage’s team who transform “waste” into support for millions facing hunger around the world.

Kiwi Recovery – One Million Pounds of Wellness

One success story from the Customer Product Donation program involves one million pounds of frozen kiwis. The kiwis in question were recently discontinued and would otherwise be destined for a landfill. A proactive Lineage team member identified the opportunity and promptly reached out to the customer.

After identifying the product, the Lineage team member and customer worked with Hannah Hoskins, executive director of the Lineage Foundation for Good, to recover these ill-fated fruits. Within days, Hoskins and the Foundation coordinated with a charitable organization to connect the surplus food with food banks in need. Soon, 30 truckloads of kiwis were claimed and scheduled for pickup.

These nutritious fruits found a new purpose when they landed at food banks equipped with USDA clean rooms and repackaging centers. Instead of handing the kiwis out as singular frozen items, they were combined with other fruits and vegetables to create healthy frozen smoothie kits. In that way, one million pounds of discontinued kiwis were transformed and given a second life as a community resource and a healthy option for families facing food insecurity.

Encouraging Service Through Empowerment Programs

Lineage’s Foundation for Good and their Customer Product Donation program aim to encourage major food producers, retailers, and distributors to give back to communities in need through empowerment and facilitation. Team members are always on the lookout for donation opportunities and work closely with customers to eliminate food waste and help feed the world. By making it easy to donate and creating incentives, like taking title of the donated goods, storing them without cost for up to 90 days, identifying local food banks, and coordinating the shipments, Lineage hopes to empower more customers to make meaningful donations in the years to come.