To facilitate extensive cross-sector collaboration for achieving large scale results
To address poverty issues that are of major public concern and have greater social impact, the SIE Fund Task Force is looking for areas of unmet demands and service gaps where there is a need for greater co-ordination and collaboration to achieve results. In this regard, the Task Force has shown concern for food support service in Hong Kong.
Having regard that the food support service sector as a whole is facing challenges, such as lack of information, unmatched supply and demand, as well as high running costs, the Task Force has decided to take on a flagship project which aims at enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the overall food support service in Hong Kong.
FOOD-CO: All-dimensional Food Support Collaborative Platform
Collaborative platform to enhance the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the sector
The SIE Fund engaged St. James' Settlement (SJS) as the intermediary in 2016 to launch the Fund’s first flagship project, rendering support to food support services in Hong Kong.
SJS commissioned a territory-wide study in 2016 to better understand the whole food support service sector. In 2017, FOOD-CO was launched as the first all-dimensional food support collaborative platform in Hong Kong. Making use of information technology and data analysis, FOOD-CO connects stakeholders in the sector to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of food support services. Operators can share the best practices and better coordinate their operations through this platform. Donors can also reach out to suitable operators for more efficient food donations. Members of the public and people in need can better understand different food support services in their own districts. Public awareness programmes are also held to let people know more about food support services in Hong Kong. (Click here for more information about the first stage of FOOD-CO)
The first stage of FOOD-CO was completed in May 2019 with significant results. With funding from the SIE Fund, SJS launched the second stage of the project "FOOD-CO 2.0" in 2019 to further enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the food support service sector and step up advocacy for donation of food surplus with wider adoption of information technology. FOOD-CO 2.0 introduces an automated one-stop logistics system comprising food delivery and temporary storage services to support the operation and service expansion of food support service operators. A one-stop volunteer recruitment and training platform has been established to assist small- and medium-sized operators in terms of workforce. Besides, by initiatives such as introducing an artificial intelligence chat robot (i.e. Chatbot), FOOD-CO 2.0 also facilitates an automatic donation process in order to encourage more individuals and corporates to donate surplus food. (Click here for more information about FOOD-CO 2.0)
More details on how the platform enhances efficiency and effectiveness of food support services can be found in the video:
Achievements and Impacts
Continuous growth in number of service points, meals served and beneficiaries
Having concluded with satisfactory results, the funding period for FOOD-CO ended in November 2022. There are 326 registered food support service points on the platform; the number of donors reaches 850; food donation transactions amounting to over 1 550 tonnes and about HK$152 million worth of food donation have been made through the platform. FOOD-CO has successfully enhanced the overall effectiveness of food support services in Hong Kong, bringing about continuous growth in the number of service points, meals served and beneficiaries. According to the Social Impact Assessment on FOOD-CO published by Social Policy Research Limited in 2022 (click here for the executive summary of the report), the daily number of meals served and beneficiaries in Hong Kong are as follows:
* Data adopted from the baseline study conducted by Social Policy Research Limited in 2016 # Figures adopted from the Social Impact Assessment on FOOD-CO conducted by Social Policy Research Limited in 2022
