Saving Food, Supporting People and the Environment Across Three Countries

Since 2012, Kavli Trust has supported the establishment and development of all food hubs in Norway, as well as similar projects in Sweden and the United Kingdom. What these initiatives have in common is that they collect surplus food from the food industry and redistribute it free of charge to charitable organisations, or through their own services for people in need.

In total, Kavli Trust has supported food hubs in Norway, the food hubs run by Sveriges Stadsmissioner in Sweden, and the UK organisations Bind Project/The Magic Hat Cafe, Cedarwood Trust, FareShare North East, and REfUSE with NOK 38.4 million since 2012.

It all began in Oslo in 2012. Kavli Trust contributed NOK 900,000 to establish Matsentralen Oslo, introducing a concept that was entirely new to Norway at the time: an organisation that collects surplus food from the food industry and redistributes it to charities.

Kavli Trust’s CEO, Inger Elise Iversen, recalls what she thought when she recommended the project to Kavli Trust’s board.

“We had identified a project that could make a difference in three of Kavli Trust’s key focus areas: food, people, and the environment,” she says, adding:

“The project was described as a national innovation – a collaborative effort between organisations that could even be competitors – with the goal of making Matsentralen Oslo a pilot. If successful, similar projects could be considered in other cities.”

A Special Responsibility

In 2013, Matsentralen Oslo opened its doors for the first time. Ten years later, Norway’s first food hub is busier than ever. They recently moved into larger premises, which will allow them to redistribute even more food to the 140 charitable organisations that currently collect food from them.

Since then, food hubs have also been established in seven other Norwegian cities, along with the umbrella organisation Matsentralen Norge.

“Kavli Trust has been a long-term supporter of all the food hubs, and of Matsentralen Norge,” Inger Elise Iversen summarises.

“Food hubs are good for the climate and the environment because they prevent surplus food from being wasted. At the same time, they ensure that the food benefits people in need through charities, and they also provide work training for people outside the labour market,” she explains.

Iversen also notes that as the owner of Kavli, who produces food in Norway, Sweden and the UK, Kavli Trust has a particular responsibility to contribute to solutions for responsible production and consumption.

“From the very beginning, the food hub project appeared to be a genuine triple-win initiative, where Kavli Trust could achieve significant impact with relatively limited resources,” she adds.

In total, the food hubs rescued 5,508 tonnes of food from being thrown away in 2022 – equivalent to 11 million meals.

Food Rescue Across Borders

With Kavli Group already operating in both Sweden and the UK, it was natural to seek similar initiatives there. In Sweden, the largest and most important food hubs are run by local branches of Sveriges Stadsmissioner.

“Most of the surplus food is used in the Stadsmissioner’s own programmes for people in vulnerable situations,” says Guro Hjetland Sundsby, responsible for grant allocations to Sweden at Kavli Trust.

These programmes include free cafés, membership-based shops with low prices, and direct distribution of food parcels to recipients.

“Support from Kavli Trust is used to scale up existing food hubs. We are particularly interested in the further development of hubs in Mälardalen and Umeå,” Sundsby adds.

Many in Need of Food Support

In the UK, Kavli Trust supports a range of organisations, each taking different approaches to collecting, distributing, and making efficient use of surplus food.

“Some use the food in creative café projects where young people also receive work training, while others distribute it more directly to recipients,” explains Rune Mørland, responsible for Kavli Trust’s UK grants.

Rising Demand

In all three countries, charities have seen an increasing number of people needing food support in recent years. Higher electricity prices, more expensive food, and other rising living costs mean that more and more people are living on low incomes.

The situation is particularly serious in north-east England, where the projects supported by Kavli Trust are based.

Child Poverty

A report from Action for Children shows that 38% of all children in the region live in poverty – the highest rate in the UK.

“The local initiatives we support play a crucial role in ensuring that more families get the help they need to meet basic needs,” says Mørland.

An Exciting Journey

Together, the food hubs and similar projects represent Kavli Trust’s largest climate and environmental initiative to date.

“It has been a wonderful and exciting journey to be part of over the past ten years,” says Inger Elise Iversen.

In 2022, Kavli Trust awarded further funding for the operation and scaling up of Matsentralen Norge.