NEWPORT BEACH, CA - A new partnership has been formed between Chipotle Mexican Grill and the ag community. Recently, the foodservice giant announced it is partnering with college student-founded The Farmlink Project and establishing a goal to donate 10 million meals to food banks this holiday season.
“It’s incredibly inspiring to know that a group of college students saw a problem and immediately built a scalable solution that will help people in need and reduce waste,” said Chris Brandt, Chief Marketing Officer, Chipotle. “We are excited to partner with The Farmlink Project and utilize our network of growers to accelerate their mission of feeding the hungry this holiday season.”
Chipotle has engaged its supply network, employees, and guests to partake by donating their excess crops, volunteering their time, or providing resources to help ensure that food doesn't go to waste. Guests can also support The Farmlink Project by using Chipotle’s real change feature and rounding up their bill to the next highest dollar amount when ordering on the Chipotle app or Chipotle.com to contribute.
Founded in 2020 in direct response to this crisis, The Farmlink Project is a nonprofit grassroots movement that connects farms with food banks to feed those in need while supporting essential jobs. The organization fundraises externally to collect surplus produce from farms and suppliers and pay transportation costs in order to deliver fresh food to communities in need.
“As we head into Thanksgiving, we want to express our gratitude to the farmers, truckers, volunteers, contributors, and now everyone in the Chipotle community,” said Maxwell Goldman, Co-Founder of The Farmlink Project. “Together, we understand the absurdity of food insecurity in the U.S. and have developed a plan to address its short-term challenges this holiday season while also building important farmer relationships and inspiring fan engagement that will benefit our mission for years to come.”
Comprised of students from colleges and universities across the country, the organization is engaging farmers, including Chipotle’s network of suppliers, and expanding its reach of over 14 million pounds donated to-date, a goal they hope to nearly double through the partnership.
One of Farmlink's most impactful recruiting tools is its growing Instagram page. According to the release, once prospective volunteers and donors are immersed in Farmlink’s content that highlights the severity of food insecurity in the United States, they often seek out ways to get more involved. In response, Chipotle is calling upon its massive Gen Z following to learn more about Farmlink’s incredible work and its network of motivated college students.
The recent partnership is another example of Chipotle’s continued commitment to the agricultural community. Earlier this year, Chipotle launched a virtual farmers’ market on Shopify, powering digital commerce for select supply partners, as well as partnered with Tractor Beverages, donating a percentage of every sale back to farming-related causes. Chipotle is also empowering the next generation of farmers by offering education, scholarships, grants, and three-year contracts to young farmers.
For more information, click here for the full press release.
We as an industry will continue to thrive and grow with pivotal partnerships like these, so keep reading ANUK as we bring more news to the forefront.
