Bia Food Initiative (BiaFi) is a not-for-profit social enterprise that has developed a unique solution to the issue of food waste, connecting businesses that have bulk quantities of surplus food to charities across Ireland that need this food, via three redistribution depots in Cork, Galway and Dublin. Our solution provides 30,000 sq ft of storage capacity nationwide, full maintenance of the cold chain using temperature-controlled vehicles and storage areas, and a customised IT system that ensures full traceability of every product with detailed sustainability reporting. BiaFi has developed and tested this solution with a pilot in Cork. Since the Cork depot opened in July 2014, it has redistributed 350 tonnes of surplus food from a network of 41 registered donors, including Musgraves, Tesco, Kelloggs and Carroll’s Meats, to 56 registered charities in Cork, Kerry and Limerick, including St. Vincent De Paul and The Simon Community. That is the equivalent of over 700,000 meals and approximate savings of over 1065 tonnes in emissions of CO2-e. BiaFi have recently expanded the positive impact of what has been achieved in Cork by opening depots in Dublin and Galway.
