Conserving Bounties, a local non-profit organisation, and the Bahrain Supreme Council for Environment recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to enable both entities to join forces in spreading awareness regarding the issue of food wastage and to strengthen their impact within the local community.

The two entities signed the agreement at the First Conserving Bounties Partners Forum, which was sponsored by BMMI and Downtown Rotana and took place on Thursday, May 10, 2018. In attendance were key industry figures, including major hoteliers, supermarkets, restaurant managers, industry leaders and current partners, as well as the Conserving Bounties Board of Directors and the CEO of the Supreme Council for Environment.

The sponsorship of that event is just the latest collaboration between the BMMI Group and Conserving Bounties. BMMI has successfully partnered with the local non-profit throughout the past year, in an effort to meet the group’s sustainability commitment of achieving zero waste and to further contribute to the local communities in which it operates.

Conserving Bounties specialises in providing meals to families and individuals in need in Bahrain by managing the logistics of food collection, meal preparation, packing and redistribution. With current estimates counting around 10,000 meals wasted in Bahrain daily, the collaboration between Conserving Bounties and the BMMI Group highlights a commitment to help battle staggering food waste in the Kingdom.

Through its Alosra Charitable Foundation, BMMI has invested BD50,000 with the society to set up Bahrain's first soup kitchen. Furthermore, the BMMI Group’s fully owned subsidiary, Alosra supermarket, participated through six of its stores in Conserving Bounties’ initiatives. The supermarket donates bakery and ready-made sandwiches to be collected from the stores every day, helping serve several neighbourhoods across the Kingdom.

Conserving Bounties has delivered more than 170,000 meals up to date. The non-profit distributes 500 meals a day, providing healthy food for 300 families in Bahrain and more than 3,000 labours. As of April of this year, Alosra has contributed 40,500 meals to the initiative.

Being a responsible corporate citizen is at the core of how business is done at the BMMI Group, said Head of Corporate Communications and Marketing, Yasmine Elizabeth Mohammed. “We are always on the lookout for opportunities to add real value to the communities in which we operate,” said Yasmine. “With our heavy involvement in the food industry, it made complete sense to partner with Conserving Bounties and to play our part in helping tackle the problem of food waste. We look forward to continuing our collaboration, and following the successful partnership with Alosra, we plan to extend our support through our other businesses in the future,” she added.

From Alosra’s side, the supermarket also reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the cause. “At Alosra, we take it up as our responsibility to tackle this issue by identifying the best solution for redistributing resources to those in need in the most efficient manner, said Jaffar Al Asfoor, General Manager of Food Retailing and Production. “It is also up to us, both as businesses and as individuals, to make small changes in the way we source and purchase produce, and in how we shop and eat by improving meal planning, food storage, promoting a culture of eating leftovers and contributing towards making a difference,” he added.

The Conserving Bounties Society’ CEO, Thawra Al Dhaen, also described their partnership with BMMI as a success. “We are delighted to partner with BMMI and we highly value their support,” she said. “Such contributions are critical to the sustainability of our voluntary activities and it guarantees the development of our organisation. Moreover, these contributions help us in achieving our goals of reaching the maximum number of beneficiaries across the Bahrain. Therefore, we really look forward to increasing the collaboration between Conserving Bounties and the BMMI Group,” said Thawra.