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More than 940 charitable boards in Germany collect surplus food and distribute it to people in need. Food distribution is the core business of Tafel Deutschland and is organized differently from region to region. The Tafel give people in need a modest financial leeway by enabling them to save on their purchases. At the same time, they create a space for encounters and thus the framework for building a social network - which provides support for those affected by poverty and can help them to improve their situation.
Tafel Deutschland is the umbrella organization of the german local Tafel organizations. The non-profit association represents the interests of its members in politics, business, and society and provides practical support for Tafel's work on-site.
AdEx Partners has supported Tafel Deutschland e.V. pro bono for four years in the digitalization of food rescue and distribution.
Digitizing the food rescue„The ‘Tafeln’ (German Food Banks) are experts in saving food, AdEx partners in digital transformation. Therefore, we are very grateful that AdEx Partners accompanies and supports us on a pro bono basis in digitizing the food rescue and making the food banks fit for the future."
Every year in Germany about 18 million tons of food end up as waste. At the same time, many people in our society are unable to regularly and sufficiently supply themselves with food.
Here, the Tafeln, with its approximately 60,000 mainly volunteers and about 2,000 distribution points throughout Germany, forms the most important bridge. They collect food, for example from supermarkets, which would otherwise end up in the garbage, and distribute it to those in need.
Since food donations are declining overall, while at the same time the number of people in need continues to rise, the Tafeln face additional challenges. Based on the problems, the project "Tafel macht Zukunft - gemeinsam digital" was launched, funded by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, which AdEx Partners aktively supported pro bono.
By developing and introducing digital technologies to the nationwide Tafel network, the following project goals should be achieved:
- Digitally support and facilitate work processes at the Tafel and food-donating companies during food collection
- Increasing the amount of food donated
- Improved planning and communication between Tafel locations and with food-donating companies
- Collection and evaluation of donor-related data
- Time and cost reduction through optimized route planning
- Further development of the distribution of bulk-donations between Tafel locations
The platform has various features and supports the local food banks in their daily work to achieve the project goals.
Our Approach
In workshops initially organized and moderated by AdEx Partners, the eco-platform was developed with all stakeholders on the basis of the design thinking approach. Since then, the project has continued to develop and the AdEx Partners team has advised Tafel Deutschland e.V. in the following areas:
