Aldi Is Looking For Charities To Collect Surplus Groceries On Christmas Eve

Aldi is looking for local charities to help make sure everyone has a merry Christmas this year

The holiday season should be all about giving, and Germany-based budget grocery chain Aldi is doing its part to make sure everyone is able to have a merry Christmas this year. Aldi stores all over the world are looking for local charities who can come to store locations after they close on Christmas Eve to pick up donations of surplus fresh food.

This is the third year in a row that Aldi has donated leftover groceries on Christmas Eve. Earlier this year, the chain partnered with Neighbourly, a startup that pairs corporations with local charitable organizations that can help them give back to their communities, to provide grocery donations all year round. But their Christmas giving event is the biggest of the year, and store officials estimate that every location worldwide will have 20 to 30 crates of products that charities can pick up.

“As Aldi stores will shut at 4pm on Christmas Eve until December 27, they will have a variety of good quality surplus food products that they will wish to redistribute in support of less fortunate individuals and to prevent food going to waste,” they said in a press release.

The Christmas Eve initiative will offer tons of fresh food, including fruit, vegetables, fresh meat, fish and bread. Anything nearing the end of its shelf life when Aldi stores close on Christmas Eve will be available for donation. Those kinds of fresh foods are the items food banks and other charitable organizations struggle to keep on their shelves, and people tend to donate more canned foods and pantry items than anything fresh that can spoil quickly.

Last Christmas, Aldi’s donations amounted to just under half a million holiday meals provided to people in need. This year, they hope to provide even more.

Fritz Walleczek, Managing Director of Corporate Responsibility at Aldi UK, said the organization hopes to keep growing this program year after year, especially as Aldi stores reach even more parts of the world.

“Our Christmas food donation scheme is something we’re really passionate about, and we’re working with Neighbourly this year to pair as many stores up as possible,” he said. “Last year we were able to reach thousands of people, and some charities were even able to prepare fresh meals that fed families well into the New Year. This is our third year of Christmas food donations and we’re hoping this year will be just as successful, and we look forward to working with local charities and food banks in the future.”

With the success of Aldi’s Christmas Eve donation program, we can only hope that more grocery stores will follow suit. Every family deserves to have a great holiday meal, and this will help spread that cheer to more and more family tables.