Introduction

The Food Bank Malaysia (PFBM) program has been introduced as one of the ‘Inisiatif Peduli Rakyat’ program by the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) to help the less fortunate to get food which can indirectly reduce the cost of living. The program is also in line with the goal of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 12.3, which is to achieve a reduction of half of the total food waste released by the retail and consumer industry by 2030.

The concept of this program is to save the surplus food that are still edible through the collection of contributors such as supermarkets, manufacturers, food entrepreneurs, hotels and corporate companies. The food collected will then be distributed to identified target groups from poor and disabled families, welfare homes, food aid centers, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) as well as underprivileged University students.

MAIN OBJECTIVES OF THE FOOD BANK MALAYSIA PROGRAM

1. Inisiatif Peduli Rakyat - helping the less fortunate to get access to food supplies in order to alleviate their cost of living.
2. Increase Consumer Awareness - provide awareness to consumers regarding zero waste initiatives to prevent food waste.
3. Retail Industry - reduce wastage of food that can still be reused and reduce the operating costs of supermarkets.
4.  A More Systematic Food Surplus Management - Creating a more structured and organized food surplus management structure as one of the national level initiatives.