SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL — Inside an industrial park in São Paulo, Karen Leal guides a group between ten-meter-high racks of packaged food toward the warehouse’s cold storage.
“We decided to buy these refrigerated shipping containers instead of other options,” explained Leal, the warehouse manager, pointing to some pallets of lettuce and onions inside. “We don’t own this warehouse space, so if we move, they can come with us. And we can easily move them around the warehouse to where they’re most convenient.”
The group around her makes noises of approval and scribbles in their notebooks.
“This is a great idea. Can we have the contact you bought these from?” asked one of the women following Leal.
“Of course,” she said. Others huddle around for the contact.
This is the nuanced type of knowledge exchange that happens when regional coordinators come together at the São Paulo branch of Sesc Mesa Brasil, the Brazilian food banking network and certified member of The Global FoodBanking Network. It is made up of 95 locations in Latin America’s largest and most populous country and ranks fourth in the amount of food distributed by all GFN members.
This was a special week for the São Paulo branch, as they were celebrating 30 years since they were founded, paving the way for the Sesc Mesa Brasil network as it is today.
“The Sesc Mesa Brasil Sao Paulo team is committed, professional, and passionate about food security and nutrition for the most vulnerable,” said Teresa Garcia Plata, the regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean at The Global FoodBanking Network. “They are such an asset for strengthening partnerships and advancing strategies to end hunger and food waste in Brazil.”
But instead of simply celebrating, the São Paulo branch, which distributes a whopping 13 percent of the food among the network of 95 food banks, used the opportunity to host the National Meeting of Regional Directors, a biannual gathering to share knowledge and lay out strategic plans for the network.
Hosting the meeting at the pioneering São Paulo unit shows other newer food banks across the country how they can grow.
“Some regional coordinators will think of São Paulo as very different because it is bigger,” said Claudia Roseno, the national coordinator of Sesc Mesa Brasil. “The volumes may be different but by seeing the work personally, regional coordinators realize that the processes and the work of food banking is very similar, and we can implement the successful practices they see here all over the country.”
The group of regional coordinators visited the warehouse and other locations in São Paulo. They spent days in open discussion hashing out important topics like data collection and food safety and product tracing.
Claudia Vilhena, the regional coordinator in the capital, Brasília, said she asked Karen Leal detailed questions about how they manage the warehouse in São Paulo.
“We often have issues that we consider very challenging, but once we are in conversation with other managers, we quickly find solutions to our difficulties,” Vilhena said. Talking with Leal that day was very valuable in understanding the staff she needed to improve inventory management in the Brasília warehouse.
Letícia Zago, the regional coordinator of Santa Catarina state, said she had more examples than she could remember of lessons learned from the gathering: managing business partners, human resources, inventory management, coordinating donations, community development, and more.
“The opportunity to meet all the regional coordinators and many other people involved with Sesc Mesa Brasil in person is wonderful,” she said. “It allows me to improve my professional skills and my contributions to the program. It really makes me feel like I’m an important player, even in a giant network.”
Across a country that is so large and diverse, Roseno says in-person exchanges are fundamental to operating as a network.
“It is our duty at the national office to serve the regional coordinators,” said Roseno. “Being in-person allows us to better understand the needs of the different regions and how we can support them better. It makes me — and I think everyone else here — very happy.”
She felt like a tremendous amount of progress had been made and relationships had been built over just a few days together. The benefits wouldn’t just be felt among these regional coordinators but also among staff across the country and the millions of people they serve every month.
“A network can only grow as quickly as its members do,” said GFN’s Garcia. “We recognize the great work the national directors — and everyone in the Sesc Mesa Brasil network — is doing to create such valuable space for sharing knowledge.”
