La GIS Foundation has received international recognition for his project Cartons for Good, which uses SIG's expertise in filling technology to help communities process and preserve their food into meals locally. The prize, awarded annually by the initiative SAVE FOOD, was handed over to the Foundation on December 13, 2023 in Cairo at Pacprocess MEA, the number one trade show in the Middle East and Africa region for processing and packaging. The prize money will be invested in a comprehensive, locally based study to ensure that Cartons for Good's impact in Egypt is the greatest possible.
Every day a third of the world's food is lost. Farmers often cannot sell their entire harvest in local markets and have no way to preserve the produce. The project Cartons for Good from the SIG Foundation, which has been operating in Bangladesh since 2019, convinced the jury with SIG's expertise in using filling technology to help communities process and preserve their food locally. SIG engineers developed a system that uses the company's boiling technology to preserve food in SIG SafeBloc carton packaging. Vegetables and fruits are processed into tasty dishes without preservatives and packaged in cardboard packaging. This means that meals can be stored at room conditions for up to nine months without refrigeration. The goal of the foundation is to expand “Cartons for Good” to other parts of the world.
Unique initiative to combat food loss and malnutrition
The Cartons for Good initiative thus brings SIG's food packaging and preservation technology to regions where innovative solutions are urgently needed to combat food loss and malnutrition. Surplus food is preserved, farmers have additional income and meals are distributed to schools and provide a regular lunch to disadvantaged children. This allows them to go to school instead of working for food.
Holger Dickers, CEO of the Swiss-based foundation, says: “It is an honor to receive the SAVE FOOD award. Cartons for Good is the foundation's flagship project. “It is a unique initiative designed to help communities save surplus food, support farmers' livelihoods and promote children's nutrition and education.”
Active globally, the SIG Foundation envisions a future where good nutrition and clean water are available to all and natural habitats are preserved for future generations. Together with its partners, the purpose of the foundation is to identify, drive and promote activities and projects that strengthen civil society and create positive impacts for the environment. These goals are consistent with SIG's sustainability strategy: the net positive commitment to contributing more to society and the environment than the company earns.
