Members of a network that helps to supply and provide logistical support to food aid organisations staged a protest on Thursday outside a Brussels store that markets unsold goods at discounted prices.
About 20 members of the Loco network staged the symbolic protest outside a store of the Brussels start-up, 'Happy Hours Market.'
The aim of the organisers was to raise public awareness about the impact of apps offering discounted unsold goods.
From 10 a.m., the protesters, mainly members of food aid associations, placed empty crates in front of the store located at Bethlehem Square in Saint-Gilles. A banner unfurled across the heap of crates read: “Food aid: Are start-ups committing a hold-up?”
The organisers are up in arms over the monetisation of unsold food stocks by start-ups such as Happy Hours Market, Too Good to Go, and Phenix. They claim that this approach hampers the operations of non-profit institutions.
“Ever since these commercial firms appeared, our associations hardly receive unsold donations from supermarkets, as these start-ups buy them directly from the source. Charity is not a commodity,” Dominique Watteyne, a member of the Recovery Collective of Ixelles, explained.
The “no-win” competition with this “profitable new market at the expense of the poorest,” combined with the increasing expansion of supermarkets, means that associations need to set up food collections to provide their beneficiaries with quality products.
“We therefore call on medium and large retailers to strengthen collaboration with food aid associations, and on Brussels authorities to implement measures for the systematic recovery of unsold goods by food aid organisations,” the Loco network said.
It also called for a legislative framework for donation policies to promote the direct channelling of unsold goods to the food aid sector and prevent their commercialisation.
