Food Industry Donations
Our vital Food Industry partnerships provide 91% of our food donations. This tremendous support assists people who need food, but more importantly, it helps them to focus on the challenges they need to address to prevent future food insecurity.
Our Food Industry partners also help us to provide food to 56 partner organizations that work to address the root causes of poverty.
We invite you to reach out to the Calgary Food Bank to explore how we can work together to help alleviate food insecurity and poverty in our community, while both meeting your organization’s community social responsibility (CSR) goals and raising awareness of your brand.
If you have excess product that is safe but cannot be sold, consider sharing it with the Calgary Food Bank.
All food donations given in good faith are covered by the province of Alberta’s Charitable Donation of Food Act. This legislation protects organizations who donate food.
Making A Donation
If you have excess product that is safe but cannot be sold, consider sharing it with the Calgary Food Bank. We accept safe, nutritious food from retailers, farms, ranches, wholesalers, grocers, transport companies, and warehouses. Our warehouse can receive pallet-sized quantities of both perishable and non-perishable donations from industry, wholesalers and retailers.
Please note we cannot accept large quantities of food that does not fit into Canada’s Food Guide, such as sugared beverages, snack foods, condiments. Household goods such as cleaning products, garbage bags, pet food, personal care items will be accepted in large quantities on a case-by-case basis.
We accept food that is
- Surplus
- Close to its Best Before Date
- Superficially damaged
- Mislabeled, and/or discontinued
- Labelled with nutritional info
Our most needed items are
- Perishable foods (produce, dairy products, fresh/frozen meats)
- Protein (canned meat or fish , peanut butter, beans)
- Canned vegtables
- Pasta sauce, stews, healthy soups
- Fruit (applesauce, canned and dried fruit)
We cannot accept food that is
- Past its Expiry Date
- Unpackaged or physically damaged
- Without its nutritional labeling
- Nutritionally unsound (e.g., sugared beverages, snack foods, condiments)
To see if your donation is suitable, please contact Kathryn Lindsay at 403-253-2059 ex 299 or by email.
“Giving to and supporting to the Calgary Food Bank ties in perfectly with our mission of “to feed everyone”. It is very important for us to give back to our community that we are connected with on so many levels.”
Jared Laidley
Senior Director, District Manager Loblaws
Numbers reflect our fiscal year, September 1, 2022 to August 31, 2023.
Value of food rescued ($)
Food Industry partners
pounds of food rescued
Glossary
What is a Best Before Date (BBD)?
BBD stands for Best Before Date. A best before date is an indicator of food quality, not safety. It does not mean a food product is no longer safe to eat. Manufacturers prefer that the product will still have the texture, colour or flavour that consumers have come to associate with the brand, and generally apply a best before date that 20% shorter than the true date after which food quality is expected to deteriorate.
What is an expiration date?
An expiration date is not the same as a best before date. After the expiration date, the food may not have the same nutrient content declared as on the label. Food should not be bought, sold or eaten if the expiration date has passed, and should be discarded.
For more information on date labelling of pre-packaged foods, please go to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s webpage.