Giving is...contributing meals to make a difference in the lives of others.
Thanks to the high standards of Del Monaco Specialty Foods in Morgan Hill, Second Harvest Food Bank receives thousands of pounds of fresh and nutritious food every month. We caught up with Tony and Vic Del Monaco to discuss the partnership and learn more about what makes this family-owned and operated company so unique:
What kinds of foods do you donate to Second Harvest?
We donate overruns on everything we make. Oftentimes we have bags left over after production runs that cannot be fitted to an exact case weight, so they are donated to Second Harvest - all kinds of soups, sauces, chili, stews, beans, mashed potatoes, pie fillings, puddings, filled pasta, pesto, compound butters, and so much more. We also will donate full production runs of products that may not meet exact customer specifications. We once donated a whole batch of mashed potatoes because it had the wrong mesh of pepper. The customer probably would never have known, but we knew.
Why did you decide to partner with Second Harvest Food Bank?
Community is important to us. We know that the Food Bank will handle our products safely and make sure that they are evenly distributed to as many soup kitchens, shelters, and food pantries as possible. It's important to help feed our neighbors, and we're proud to be a part of this community effort to end local hunger.
In what ways do Del Monaco Foods and Second Harvest share the same values?
We are both innovators and leaders in our respective industries and we share a commitment to reducing our carbon footprint. We built our new 80,000-square-foot plant using responsible materials and state-of-the-art technology, and we understand that the Food Bank is using a hybrid Produce Mobile and solar panels at its San Jose Distribution Center. Most importantly, we both love feeding people!
Learn more about commercial food donations at www.shfb.org/commercialfood