2018 Impact Report

As we wrap up another year here at Soylent, we’re taking a look back at the impact our #SoylentForGood program has had and sharing some of our favorite highlights with you.

Mission-driven company.

Our mission is our North Star. It reminds us that we’re not here just to sell ready-to-drink meals — we’re here to help bring an end to food voids, hunger, and food insecurity. We’re working to bring accessible nutrition to more people in more places all over the world.

We know we need to not only feed folks that are able to purchase our product, but those living without the means to eat or feed their families as well. That’s why #SoylentForGood was developed three years ago, to give back, providing products and financial support to organizations who fight food insecurity and offer hunger relief.

Let’s take a look at some of the amazing work we’ve been able to accomplish and the partners we’re working with along the way.

Donations.

For a third year in a row, we partnered with World Food Program USA, providing financial contributions that go toward the purchases of meals around the world. We’ve also been able to support a variety of their impactful projects through their innovation accelerator, which helps introduce new technologies in the fight against hunger.

In 2018 alone, we donated enough funds to provide 110,720 meals! And that’s something we couldn’t have done without you. It was thanks to your purchases and referrals that we were able to donate so much. Bravo!

And remember — it’s an ongoing program you can be a part of right now! Because every time you refer a friend to Soylent, we donate $1 (that’s 3 meals!) to WFP USA.

Food banks.

We’ve also been busy helping out a number of food banks across the country. In case you don’t know the difference between a food bank and a food pantry, a food bank is the larger organization where most food pantries go to get their food. Food banks provide hunger relief infrastructure and logistics throughout every county in the United States.

There are two main ways Soylent supports food banks. First, we donate product that’s within a few months of its expiration date. Food banks then quickly and easily distribute that product to their pantry networks so it’s consumed well before it expires. Second, we donate funds and and product. In June of this year, we ran a buy-a-meal, give-a-meal program that benefited City Harvest and Island Harvest in New York. And thanks to the amazing support of consumers in New York, we were able to donate 100,000 meals to these incredible food banks!

College hunger.

According to The Hope Center, an estimated 50% of undergraduates have experienced food insecurity in the last 30 days.  And this isn’t like those times when you ate ramen noodles for three months straight but you still had a meal plan, this is when students have to make a choice between food and books, or even food and staying in school. This year, we took a stand against college hunger with #RealCollege and donated to college campus food pantries. And in 2019, we’re expanding our impact through a partnership with Swipe Out Hunger.

If you’re worried about food insecurity on your campus, please email [email protected] and put us in touch with a food pantry on your campus.

Public education.

Since the launch of our Soylent Speaker Series in July, we’ve hosted exciting events with friends, partners, and the public where we can all learn a little more about the future of food, issues surrounding food insecurity, and food policy. Our aim is to have conversations about how public and private partnerships can work together to tackle systemic issues facing the food system in our country. We partnered with leaders from MAZON on two of these events to further educate attendees on the impact of the Farm Bill and food policy on hunger relief efforts.

Disaster relief.

Because we’re located in Southern California, we’re part of the community affected by the wildfires that happened this past year. We were quick to send product and support to more than 15 fire stations whose firefighters were on the front lines of these disasters. We also made donations to organizations supporting survivors and those evacuated from their homes.

Food rescue.

Our office partners with a food rescue-based app called Re-Plate. It’s an app that helps ensure that none of the catering or food prepared for our office goes to waste. Instead of throwing food away, leftovers are picked up by Re-Plate staff members and delivered directly to a soup kitchen nearby so the leftovers can be repurposed and served to those in need!

Our community.

Even if you’ve never been to Los Angeles, you’ve probably heard about Skid Row or the “homeless capital of America.” They’re not just faceless people for us, these are our neighbors — our headquarters is less than a mile from Skid Row. Because we want to be good neighbors and partners to everyone who lives in our area, we give both financial support and product donations to The Midnight Mission and Skid Row Carnival of Love. These two organizations do unbelievable work to support the communities and people living in this area.

The bottom line.

Since the inception of #SoylentForGood, 1,644,209 meals have been donated! If you took 1,644,209 bottles of Soylent and lined them up end to end, those bottles would stretch 195 miles!

In 2018, we’ve worked with more charitable partners than ever before, helping us learn the best ways to leverage our resources, our innovation, and our staff to better serve the world around us. We are grateful for their support and for yours!

Keep a lookout for more #SoylentForGood initiatives in 2019!