A new partnership with Maple Leaf Foods has not only helped Brandon's Food Rescue grocery store sell new shipments of food quickly, it has also written a new chapter in the social enterprise's history.
Earlier this week, Food Rescue Grocery placed an order with Maple Leaf Foods, which will stock the protein in its stores at a price well below the usual list price. The partnership and shipment came at just the right time after the store's shelves were left bare after a partnership with its previous main supplier expired.
“Previously we've only accepted donations,” Ted Zogan, the store's food rescue guru, told The Sun, “and we understand that to maintain a sustainable model and ensure a steady supply, especially with this approach, we may need to make purchases.”
Food Rescue grocery retail manager Elizabeth Morrow unpacks new chicken nuggets from Maple Leaf Foods at the store Friday afternoon. (Gina Mortfield/The Brandon Sun)
The partnership with Maple Leaf means the store has joined the food manufacturer's “food in need” network, where perfectly good food that's available for any reason — be it overproduction, a customer making an order mistake, or whatever — will be shared with relief stores.
“Maple Leaf has been able to provide this to us through this program at a significantly lower price than people are used to,” Zogan said, adding that protein sources such as chicken breasts, bacon, smokies and chicken nuggets will now be available in stores.
The first shipment from Maple Leaf arrived on Friday, and people were already lined up at the entrance before staff had even begun opening boxes and putting the new items in refrigerators.
Last month, the social enterprise made an announcement addressing concerns about food shortages in its stores, which it said were the result of its cost-recovery model conflicting with the policies of Second Harvest, a large Toronto-based food rescue organization that connects stores with a network of food suppliers.
Zogan said after discussions with Second Harvest, the store was faced with a decision on whether to operate as a food bank – which would require it to provide food for free in order to maintain relationships with other food rescue organizations – or to continue with its existing model of accepting surplus food from retail stores and warehouse distributors and selling that “rescue” food at a discount to local residents to cover the costs of bringing it into the community.
Staying true to its roots meant the store had to scale on its own, without the support of a larger organization's supply network, but Zogan emphasized that food rescue models developed in big cities don't necessarily apply to smaller rural towns like Brandon, which don't have access to the same resources and face the high costs of transporting rescued food to stores.
“I would rather have a network of friends and be alone and serve the needs of the community than watch people in my community go hungry,” he said, adding that the store doesn't want to compete with food banks for the limited funds they have available.
The Sun sent multiple interview requests to Second Harvest but did not receive a response.
After deciding to stick with their model and forge unique partnerships with suppliers, the store began working to ensure they could keep food on the shelves for customers, when provincial Minister for Sport, Culture, Heritage and Tourism, Glenn Simard, MP for Brandon East, offered to help.
Simard's executive assistant, Ray Bartelett, shared his connections at Maple Leaf with Zogan, and soon a new partnership was formed and a meal order was placed on Monday.
“Our office acted as a middleman,” Simard told The Sun in an interview Friday, adding that he was not involved in any part of the deal other than putting local grocers in touch with Maple Leaf representatives.
Maple Leaf Foods did not respond to a request for comment from The Sun.
Simard said after New Democrat MPP Mike Moroz, who represents River Heights, introduced a member's resolution on food relief in council in April, his office toured the store's new location in Town Centre with Moroz.
“People from all walks of life in Brandon want lower food prices, and that's something that can be offered to everyone, and I think that's really important,” Simard said. “Food rescue organizations are trying to survive and get ahead, and we want to support any organization that wants to provide low-cost options for people.”
Meanwhile, Zogan said stores continue to work on forging new partnerships to keep shelves stocked and are currently working on an agreement to secure dairy supplies.
“If there's a way for us to start a conversation and build a relationship that helps people with their food security issues and keeps food from going to landfills, we're going to be a part of that conversation and try to make it happen,” Zogan said. “This isn't about satisfying some preconceived philosophical belief that we have. This is about us solving a problem.”
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