SINGAPORE: Food retail operator DFI Retail Group is launching a new community initiative to kick start its commitment to provide a million meals to the less fortunate in Singapore across two years.
The “Have You Eaten?” project is part of the company’s corporate social responsibility efforts to reduce hunger and increase food security in the regions where it operates, the group said in a news release on Thursday (Aug 18)
DFI Retail Group runs more than 10,200 outlets in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. These include Giant, Cold Storage, CS Fresh, Guardian and 7-Eleven.
The group will contribute a percentage of its revenue from the sale of its exclusive brand rice from any Giant, Cold Storage or CS Fresh stores towards the programme.
“The #HaveYouEatenProject will spearhead the company’s efforts in reaching its goal of providing the equivalent of one million meals in food donated, supported by its ongoing successful food donation drive which is also in partnership with The Food Bank Singapore,” DFI said.
In Singapore, 10 cents from every 1kg of Meadows rice sold from Thursday will be used to purchase the same brand of rice at cost.
The project will also see DFI focus its food donation efforts on providing significantly more rice. Rice is an essential food staple and one of the top requested items for donation, said the group.
DFI Retail Group’s Southeast Asia CEO Chris Bush said the company is “acutely aware that there are those in our community who are not able to afford to have a proper meal a day, let alone three”.
“So, if our mission is to provide customers with what they need, we must also go one step further and help those who are less fortunate and are unable to afford meals,” he added. “Our aim is to reduce the hunger gap in Singapore.”
To incentivise customers to support the project, Giant will offer a 15 per cent discount off all rice brands from Thursday to Sunday.
A thousand care packs consisting of daily food essentials, worth about S$15, will also be given to beneficiaries of The Food Bank as further support for the project’s launch.
Co-founder of The Food Bank Singapore, Ms Nicole Ng said the organisation “needs to work doubly hard to ensure that everyone that needs aid gains access to it” amid the looming stagflation issues.
“The DFI team has remained steadfast in their support towards our mission. This latest campaign is just another step towards fostering closer ties,” she added.