pme donates: Food rescuers Dormagen
According to Welthungerhilfe, around 12 million tons of food are thrown away every year in Germany - food that is still edible but does not meet the ideal of beauty. Vera Geysendorpher-Christopei and Bernd Christopei from the Die-Lebensmittel-Retter association - together with many helpers - have set themselves the goal of rescuing this food and distributing it free of charge. With a donation from pme Familienservice , the association has now been able to realize a major project.
They rescue food that would otherwise be thrown away. How does the food rescue process usually work?
We have agreed food collections with our various cooperating companies between one and six times a week. For larger tours, our drivers reach up to five businesses in one day, using either our refrigerated van or sometimes their private vehicles.
Every year, 12 million tons of food that is still edible is thrown away in Germany.
The goods provided by the company are collected and sorted on site by our drivers.
Paper and plastic are separated and disposed of in the existing containers. This saves the company around two thirds of its waste costs.
As soon as all the good goods have been sorted into our containers, the volunteer driver drives to our refrigerated trailer. Meat goes into refrigerators. If there are any dry goods, they are deposited in our shelf storage.
The advantage for businesses is that they do not have to worry about disposing of the food and at the same time save considerable waste costs.
Goods that are no longer fit for sale but are edible are collected almost daily.
What made you decide to get involved in saving food?
Our commitment to food rescue began back in 2018, when we became aware of an association in Cologne and joined it. After some time, we wanted to take on the responsibility ourselves and the idea was born in our own town of Zons. We acquired businesses, and so the food rescue began on our own.
We thought it was the perfect idea to get people away from the containers - people who work in the low-wage sector and our pensioners, who we have to thank for rebuilding Germany, we can use this to provide a little support. This is how Die-Lebensmittel-Retter e.V. was founded in Dormagen in April 2021.
The food distribution would not be possible without the dedicated helpers.
What are the biggest challenges in your daily work and how do you solve them?
Our biggest challenge is recruiting new drivers that we can rely on. We have a refrigerated van that causes us stomach ache with every repair. The biggest challenge is to manage these costs.
Which project will the donation from pme Familienservice help you with?
With your donation, we were able to realize the largest project: a new refrigerated trailer.
Almost all of the rescued food is stored here. The refrigerated trailer holds around 300 IFKO boxes. That's around 2,500 kilograms of food that needs to be cooled, especially in the summer temperatures. As we are very careful to maintain the cold chain, this refrigerated trailer is a great help to us.
The rescued food is stored in this new refrigerated trailer.
What projects have you been able to implement so far?
We purchased our refrigerated van in May 2022. However, the repair costs now exceed the purchase price. Our next project is therefore to purchase a new refrigerated van.
What plans do you have for your future work in food rescue?
We want to continue to counteract food waste and send out a signal that everyone should work a little to reduce the abundance of food and not throw away food that is still good to eat.
We are always on the lookout for volunteers to help with distribution and volunteer drivers who can support our association.
We have also been looking for some time for a suitable store to distribute the food or a storage facility where we can store our equipment and possibly dry goods.
About Die-Lebensmittel-Retter e.V.
The association has set itself the goal of rescuing food that is no longer considered saleable from the garbage bins and distributing it free of charge to people in the municipality of Dormagen. More information can be found on the association's website.
Social commitment of the pme Familienservice
Whether in refugee aid, projects for children or the homeless - many team members at pme Familienservice volunteer in their free time. The pme Familienservice also supports social projects in Germany and around the world.
In 2023, the company donated a total of 55,000 euros to five charitable organizations that work every day to help disadvantaged people, children and young people, or on climate and cultural issues, among others.
All 2000 team members had the opportunity to submit suggestions for social projects that they thought were particularly worthy of support. The associations with the most votes received a donation to enable them to implement their projects.
