Turning Surplus into Purpose: Advancing Food Recovery Through Partnership
Each year, Stop Food Waste Day highlights the importance of rethinking how food is valued, not only as a resource, but as an opportunity to support communities and protect the planet. Across FLIK Hospitality Group and FLIK Independent School Dining (FISD), that commitment is brought to life through partnerships that transform surplus food into meaningful impact.
A leading example is the collaboration with Share My Meals, a nonprofit organization focused on recovering nutritious prepared meals and delivering them to communities in need.
A Partnership Driving Real Impact
Since 2022, the partnership between Compass Group and Share My Meals has played a critical role in scaling food recovery efforts across New Jersey and into New York City. The collaboration is grounded in consistency, safety, and a shared commitment to systemic change, ensuring that high-quality surplus food is recovered and redistributed efficiently.
“Our partnership with Compass Group has been fundamental to our growth since 2022, and their leadership as a key partner of the Meal Recovery Coalition further underscores our shared commitment to systemic change. By aligning on high standards for safe meal recovery, we have built a unique and deeply supportive relationship. We aren’t just reducing waste; we are ensuring that nutritious surplus food reaches those in our community who need it most. This collaboration has been a vital catalyst in helping us scale our footprint across New Jersey and into New York City, turning surplus into thousands of meaningful meals for
our neighbors.”
— Hélène Lanctuit, CEO, Share My Meals
Founded in January 2020 and headquartered in Princeton, Share My Meals is tech- based nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing food insecurity and the environmental impact of food waste. The organization recovers healthy prepared meals, delivers them to local communities, and serves as the lead agency behind the New Jersey Meal Recovery Coalition.
Building a Stronger Food Recovery System
FLIK and FISD have found success partnering with Share My Meals due to its consistent recovery model,
use of reusable containers, and strong impact metrics that help demonstrate value to stakeholders.
Participation in the New Jersey Meal Recovery Coalition has further strengthened this work by bringing together businesses and nonprofit organizations to expand food recovery and establish clear donation guidelines. Through this involvement, FLIK teams have gained a deeper understanding of the operational complexity required to successfully recover and redistribute food, from logistics to recipient coordination.
Recovered meals are distributed through a network of community-based organizations, including nonprofits such as nourish.NJ. These partnerships help increase access to fresh, high-quality meals while supporting organizations focused on long-term stability and addressing the root causes of hunger.
For onsite teams, the partnership provides a dependable and streamlined approach to food recovery, making it easier to ensure that surplus food is put to its highest and best use.
“Our partnership with Share My Meals has created a sense of stability around food recovery that is hard to find in a lot of geographies. Share My Meals has created a reliable network of volunteers and donation recipients that ensure food suitable for recovery gets to where it is needed. It is a tremendous benefit to our operators and clients.”
— Nicole Feneli, RD, CSSD, Vice President of Wellness and Sustainability, FLIK Hospitality Group
Within FLIK Independent School Dining, teams are demonstrating how this model can drive measurable results at the unit level.
In April 2024, one independent school dining program became the first in northern New Jersey within its segment to partner with Share My Meals. During the first two months of the 2024–25 school year, the program increased food recovery from 0% to 15%, with continued growth underway.
“The partnership with Share My Meals ensures the small amount of unused food we have each week can be given to an organization within a community where we have student representation. We are leading by example to create a more sustainable future that’s focused on helping others.”
— Chef Joe Mirra, FLIK Independent School Dining
As Share My Meals continues expanding into New York City, FLIK and FISD are focused on increasing participation across additional locations to further scale impact.
On Stop Food Waste Day and beyond, this partnership demonstrates how collaboration, innovation, and shared purpose can reduce waste, strengthen communities, and ensure more meals reach those who need them most.