Starbucks Coffee News: Coffee Giant To Donate All Unsold Food To Charity In The US

All unsold food on the Starbucks menu will be donated to charity, according to the company's new program called FoodShare. Starbucks announced this week that they will be donating ready-to-eat meals to various food banks in the US from their 7,600 stories nationwide.

In the press release, Starbucks is collaborating with Feeding America and Food Donation Connection (FDC). Feeding America will reportedly send vans everyday to pick up unsold food from Starbucks stores and distribute it to local food banks. FDC has worked with Starbucks for the last six years and in addition to collecting pastries, perishable food items will also be collected as well.

"This food is going to make a difference," Kienan McFadden, a Starbucks store manager said. "Whether it's a child not going hungry for the night or a family that's able to enjoy a protein plate that they would not have otherwise been able to afford at Starbucks."

McFadden adds that the partners are the real "heroes" in the food donation program as they are the ones who took the initiative to contribute to local and needy communities. According to Feeding America, there are almost 50 million citizens in America that have a hard time affording food. Starbucks plans to give 5 million meals in their first year and in the next five years, they plan to donate 100 percent of unsold food to 50 million people.

Huffington Post reports that Starbucks is one of the latest multi-national companies that have pledged to prevent food waste. The company joined UK's grocery-chain store, Tesco. Some European countries like France and Italy have also joined in the fight against food waste.

ABC reports that France has introduced fines for supermarkets that will waste food which encourages donation and composting of unsold merchandise. For Italian companies that donate, they will enjoy tax benefits from the government.