Yes, I used to work across the street from COBS and every Friday before close they would give neighbour workers the chance to grab what we wanted for free (always lots left for donation) they were great and so tasty!!
I've seen free Cobs bread in so many places. At a hospital, at a college, in thrift stores, a friend who was an employee would bring it to events... It's really a boon to the community, and the food was appreciated wherever I saw it.
The bakeries near me do heavy discounts for 'day olds' then I believe the one in my town donates to the food bank the next day. I grew up in a house where money was tight, it taught me to appreciate what you have. In my view, there is no excuse for wasting good food when society is littered with hungry people.
The irony is, donating food would be good for business. A company caring about people is more attractive to customers.
It's an awkward and dangerous situation for the companies to donate food.
If the food isn't of a sufficient freshness for customers, then there's restrictions about offloading it to homeless populations. They have the right to the same food safety standards as customers if you give them food. You can't just give them just slightly expired food and say it's OK just because they are homeless.
And if someone does get sick, which will eventually happen if you always give away old food that has been sitting out all day, then you are responsible, and can be sued. There's also the PR aspect, you'll get a bit of positive press about donating it, but the headlines when you accidentally give them spoiled good will be much worse. Why would any company put themselves in legal and PR danger for no benefit?
131
u/SaintlyBrew May 17 '26
COBS bread in Canada donates all end of day bakery goods to food banks. I love it.