Case Study
Northern
Illinois Food Bank
The Northern Illinois
Food Bank, which collects food donations from major grocery chains
to redistribute to residents in need, came to GGI with an unusual
request. A number of recipients of the high-ticket food items,
namely meat, were returning the products to the stores for a cash
refund. The stores, having contributed product based on a wholesale
budget, were unwittingly refunding the retail cost of the meat. The
resultant monetary loss and time wasted processing the transactions
frustrated the stores, which were considering discontinuation of
donations altogether.
GGI worked with the client to develop a failsafe solution and
convert a negative into a positive. A customizable and irremovable
sticker was designed to cover the UPC code on the meat’s wrapping.
The labels clearly state, “DONATED. NOT FOR RESALE.” This
message is accompanied by the logo and name of the food bank via
which the product was distributed.
GGI’s Food Donation Protection Label Program has worked like
a charm for the original client, and word of the success has spread.
Currently ten food banks across the country have implemented this
system, and the number is growing. In August GGI will present the
program to the industry as an exhibitor at America’s Second Harvest,
the 2008 food sourcing and operations conference.
Once the grocer program was salvaged the clients were happy,
but GGI’s contribution doesn’t stop there. After being asked to
review the print expenditures of several participating food banks,
GGI was able to save some of these non-profit organizations up to
40% on their overall annual print budgets. It’s a safe bet these
clients will be sticking with GGI.
Recent Milestones
GGI is working with nationwide Food Banks to
provide promotional items and information.