A leader in fresh produce retail, Food Lover’s Market, has launched the fifth consecutive Hunger Month campaign in partnership with Tru-Cape Fruit Marketing, the largest exporter of South African apples and pears and wholly owned by its growers along with Simpl Juice, Westfalia avocados, Crest Shelf potatoes and onions, and ZZ2 tomatoes.
The month-long in-store campaign is aimed at encouraging consumers to contribute a meal to FoodForward SA by purchasing partner products in any Food Lover’s Market nationwide. The much-needed contributions will go directly to feeding the vulnerable and bring awareness to the challenges poor South Africans face.
Says Kate Marais, CSI Manager for Food Lover’s Market, “We hit our target of feeding one million South Africans in 2020. We would love to meet and exceed that total this year. With 30 million food-insecure South Africans, of which 14 million go to bed hungry every day, it’s easy to understand that hunger and food insecurity is a very serious issue in our country.”
70% of households in South Africa’s informal settlements are in the unfortunate position that they have to skip meals because they can’t afford to buy the food they need to survive. Typical diets are based mainly on starches such as maize, rice, and bread with little protein or nutritious fruit and vegetables – leading to high malnutrition rates. This, in turn, leads to 27% of South African children being stunted, which is indicated by a low height in relation to age – this relates to children under the age of five.
“Through our partnership with hunger-relief organisation, FoodForward SA, whose main focus is reducing hunger in South Africa by safely and cost-effectively securing quality food for those who need it, we drive awareness and do extensive fund-raising during Hunger Month. However, this is part of our ongoing year-round support of this and other organisations – we are constantly seeking ways to address the terrible scourge of hunger in South African communities.”
By partnering with FoodForward SA, the largest food recovery organisation in South Africa, Food Lover’s Market and the Hunger Month partners hope to reach and exceed one million meals through its easy “contribute a meal” mechanism. Any of the partner products, purchased between 1 May and 28 May 2021, will contribute the required R0.85c needed to provide one meal to a hungry person through FoodForward SA.
Shoppers can show their support by purchasing any of the below-mentioned products in any Food Lover’s Market stores:
Tru-Cape: 1.5kg Econopak apples and pears; ZZ2: All varieties of 6kg tomatoes; Simpl juice: All varieties of 1.5l juice; Westfalia: A box of avocados and Crest Shelf – 7kg pocket of potatoes.
Says Andy du Plessis, Managing Director of Food Forward SA “We are very proud to be part of the fifth consecutive Hunger Month campaign. The initiative not only provides us with critical support to provide over one million meals to half-a-million vulnerable beneficiaries across the country, it provides Food Lover’s Market customers an opportunity to play their part in helping to address food insecurity in a very practical way”.
Tru-Cape Fruit Marketing Managing Director, Roelf Pienaar, says that while Tru-Cape values all partnerships it is especially appreciative of collaborations where the quality of life of the most vulnerable people is improved in the process. “As growers of food we are acutely aware of the role we play in providing healthy food for South Africans and for people in 105 countries around the world,” he ends.
“We could not have made the process of giving back any easier. The partner products we have selected are pantry staples and these have been hand-picked to make it easy for consumers to get involved by including it in their normal shopping basket. All Hunger Month products will be clearly marked in Food Lover’s Market stores – we would like to encourage consumers to shop with intent during the month of May,” concludes Marais.
For more information on #flmhungermonth, visit https://foodloversmarket.co.za/hungermonth/
