More than 20,500 kilos of leftover cafeteria food donated to food aid in Espoo
In Espoo, a pilot was conducted in 2024–2025 to donate leftover food from school cafeterias to those in need through food aid organisations. Manna-Apu has helped catering service providers distribute more than 20,500 kg of leftover food in Espoo.
The organisations donating leftover cafeteria food in Espoo are Sodexo, Espoo Catering, Laurea (Bar Laurea) and Palmia. The charity organisation Manna-Apu collects the food and distributes it to food aid clients and other food aid operators, such as Illusia Espoo Day Centre.
“The school meals provided by Manna-Apu have been extremely important for the day centre visitors. They significantly improve the nutrition of nearly a hundred vulnerable people, and we get daily questions about when the next meals will be available. It is a pleasure to be involved in distributing food to those in the greatest need – thank you for making it possible,” says Housing Counsellor Katri Vuorinen from Illusia Espoo Day Centre.
Manna-Apu’s service location, Mannatalo in Tuomarila, Espoo, is visited by some 900 food aid clients weekly: one person per family may visit once a week, and food (mostly surplus food from shops) is distributed outdoors in a tent. Shopping baskets are prepared in advance from surplus food, and visitors can choose the products they want. Visitors can also take leftover cafeteria food home with them.
Mannatalo distributed a total of 6,352 kg of leftover school cafeteria food between March and December 2024, and more than 15,000 kg in 2025. In Manna-Apu’s autumn client survey, the majority of respondents said that they would gladly receive more cafeteria food and that they were satisfied with its quality.
“Donating leftover food promotes ecological, social and economic sustainability. The schools and educational institutions involved in the pilot have been delighted that the leftover food has not gone to waste. Reducing food waste is also part of the City of Espoo’s measures to achieve carbon neutrality,” says Director of Catering Services Minna Ahola from the City of Espoo.
Similar pilots have been carried out in Helsinki and Vantaa, where they have led to ongoing cooperation between the different parties, much like in Espoo. The pilots have been part of the Food Waste Ecosystem project, which aims to reduce food waste by catering service providers in the capital region, promote the utilisation of leftover food, and develop a food waste ecosystem for the region.
Further information:
Minna Ahola
Director of Catering Services, City of Espoo
minna.l.ahola@espoo.fi
Marianne Maxwell
Executive Director, Manna-Apu
marianne.maxwell@mannatalo.fi
Heta Hyvärinen
Project Manager, City of Helsinki
heta.hyvarinen@hel.fi
Links:
https://hevinnovations.fi/food-waste-ecosystem-en/(external link, opens in a new window)
https://www.manna-apu.fi/mannaapuen(external link, opens in a new window)
The Food Waste Ecosystem project is coordinated by the City of Vantaa, which is carrying it out together with the City of Helsinki, the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), and the Laurea University of Applied Sciences. The project runs from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2026 and is funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council. The project is part of the joint innovation programme of the cities of Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa (HEVi).