Cathay Pacific and Feeding Hong Kong celebrated their partnership of creating positive impact for the community for the last ten years. The two groups collaborated to create their own surplus food rescue programme.
What is it?
Cathay and Feeding Hong Kong work together by collecting surplus food items from Cathay Pacific flights to Hong Kong. The charity is therefore able to tackle food waste by supporting members of the community suffering from food insecurity. The food would otherwise be sent to landfills, contributing to environmental issues.
Cathay is the first airline to partner with Feeding Hong Kong, with their programme being launched in 2014. Since then, 2,250 tonnes of food has been recovered and redistributed to over 260,000 people in the last decade.
Feeding Hong Kong held a special event at their warehouse to celebrate, hosted by Cathay Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Lavinia Lau, and Feeding Hong Kong Founder, CEO Gabrielle Kirstein OBE. Cathay’s Lavinia Lau said:
As Hong Kong’s home airline for nearly 80 years, Cathay has deep roots in our home city. We are committed to moving our community forward in life by being a dedicated force of positivity, and our partnership with Feeding Hong Kong is a testament to what can be achieved when businesses and non-profit organisations come together to uplift our communities and create lasting positive impacts.
Cathay Pacific have always been a sustainability-focused group, marking a number of environmental achievements last year.
Food collection and distribution
Cathay was the first aviation company to endorse Feeding Hong Kong’s advocacy by contribution to food collection and distribution. Now, the charity has placed some employees at Cathay Dining to facilitate their partnership. The diner is located in Cathay Group’s flight kitchen at Hong Kong International Airport.
Feeding Hong Kong has collected various types of packaged food and beverages from Cathay Pacific flights. This includes bottled water, juices, canned beverages, soft drinks, snacks, cereal, UHT milk and fresh fruit. All of these items are transferred to the charity’s warehouse in Yau Tong.
All items must meet the suitable requirements for consumption, and food must be collected, repackaged, and redistributed before it reaches its expiry date. The expiry dates and packaging conditions of each item are checked one by one to ensure they are safe for consumption.
Should more airlines carry out similar acts of charity? Let us know in the comments!
