In a bid to make a real difference, Asahi Kasei - Japan’s No. 1 kitchen solutions brand - has joined hands with the notable non-profit organisation, the Akshaya Patra Foundation, for its noble cause of feeding the hungry by introducing the ‘Wrap Up Hunger With Asahi Kasei’ initiative. Through this social media campaign, the brand seeks to help reduce food wastage as well as support eliminating the prevalent issue of classroom hunger by helping provide a meal to underprivileged children.
It is common to see food items like extra chapati, leftover sabzi or curry from the previous night’s dinner, and vegetable peelings end up without hesitation in the dustbin in most Indian households. However, this food waste, in turn, puts pressure on the waste management systems, contributes to pollution and further leads to food deprivation. Meanwhile, on the other hand, according to United Nations India, nearly 4 out of 10 children are not meeting their full human potential because of chronic undernutrition. In fact, 33% of children in the country are plagued by malnourishment (UNICEF and the Global Health Database) - one of the primary reasons for this being poverty and inequality.
This not only makes it imperative to reduce food wastage but also equally crucial to help fight malnourishment amongst India’s underprivileged children. And intending to effectively tackle the twin issues of food wastage and classroom hunger, Asahi Kasei has partnered with the Akshaya Patra Foundation to bring forth the #WrapUpHungerWithAsahiKasei initiative.
This initiative will see people post a picture of food wrapped in the Asahi Kasei Premium Wrap next to the product and use the #WrapUpHungerWithAsahiKasei. For every post shared with the hashtag, Asahi Kasei can provide 3 Meals for Akshaya Patra’s Mid-day Meal Programme - which provides nutritious meals to children studying in Government and Government-aided schools.
While talking about the initiative, Luve Oberoi, Sr Marketing Manager, Asahi Kasei India, said, “Food is one of the most critical pillars for survival. However, the 2021 UNEP Food Waste
Index Report states that 61% of food waste comes from households. Bearing this in mind, we aimed to create awareness about food wastage and classroom hunger via this initiative. By encouraging people to share a photo of food wrapped in the Asahi Kasei Premium Wrap - which preserves food for long and helps reduce wastage - and providing meals to underprivileged school children for every post, we are happy to do our bit and give back to the community. And we are pleased to have partnered with the Akshaya Patra Foundation for enabling this.”
Anant Arora, Chief Sustainability & Communication Officer, The Akshaya Patra Foundation mentioned, “A healthy meal is not the same luxury or a privilege for many. Moreover, most of us also fail to consider that every morsel of wasted food could potentially aid in someone’s nourishment. At Akshaya Patra, we envision eliminating classroom hunger and countering malnutrition amongst socio-economically disadvantaged children. We couldn’t have been happier to partner with Asahi Kasei - who share our vision - to introduce the Wrap Up Hunger with Asahi Kasei initiative. I also want to thank the Central Government and State Governments for providing us this opportunity to serve children and communities during the pandemic, and supporting and encouraging our efforts all along.”
According to the UN Hunger Report, although the world produces enough food to feed the global population, as many as 811 million people still go hungry every day. And this has only worsened owing to the COVID-19 pandemic during the last couple of years.
In light of this, Asahi Kasei’s ‘Wrap Up Hunger with Asahi Kasei’ initiative is a definite step towards bringing about a meaningful change in the lives of disadvantaged and deprived children across the country by helping to provide fresh, nutritious meals to them.
About Asahi Kasei
Premium Wrap, Frying Pan Foil, Cooking Sheet and Zipper Bag are the company’s four primary food-related products in India, bringing the Japanese method of storing, cooking, and baking to Indian kitchens. Each one a saviour in their own domain. Asahi Kasei is a global giant in chemicals and material science. It has a turnover of $19.7 billion (in FY2020).
About Akshaya Patra Foundation
The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation that strives to address classroom hunger and malnutrition in India. By implementing the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in Government and Government-aided schools, Akshaya Patra aims to fight hunger and, at the same time, bring children to school. Since 2000, Akshaya Patra has worked towards reaching out to children with wholesome food every single school day. The Foundation is continuously
leveraging technology to cater to millions of children. Its 63 state-of-the-art kitchens have become a subject of study and attract curious visitors from around the world. Using these
highly mechanised units of centralised kitchens, Akshaya Patra is able to achieve the highest levels of hygiene by reducing human contact with the food.
In partnership with the Government of India and various State Governments and the inestimable support of many philanthropic donors and well-wishers, Akshaya Patra has grown from humble beginnings serving just 1,500 school children across five schools to becoming the world’s largest (not-for-profit run) mid-day meal programme, serving wholesome food to over 1.8 million children from 19,039 schools across 14 states and two union territories in India.
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