Food insecurity is not a new problem, and the coronavirus pandemic has only worsened the crisis. According to data from Feeding America, one out of every six children may not know where they will get their next meal. The same data found that families were often compelled to buy the cheapest food rather than the healthiest food, resulting in a nutrition gap that can have a lifelong on the health, education, and general wellbeing of a child.
Our partners at PepsiCo launched the Food for Good program in 2009 to help deliver nutritious meals to low-income communities. By partnering with hunger-fighting nonprofits and food banks across the country, the initiative stores and delivers healthy meals to children across the United States. They’ve delivered more than 50 million nutritious meals to children and families to date.
As part of its WomanMade initiative that supports female-founded businesses, PepsiCo is now accepting applications for businesses looking to become the next Food for Good supplier.
Michele Liddle, the owner of The Perfect Granola, applied to be part of the Food for Good program after being named a finalist in the 2019 Stacy’s Rise Project. With a mission to end hunger in America and donate 5% of profits donated to homeless shelters, outreach centers, and food banks, Liddle saw a perfect alignment between her granola company and Food for Good. It was also a great business opportunity.
“As part of the Food for Good program, we’re a supplier,” Liddle says. “We sell our single-serve granola pouches into their program. We’re on the menu as a breakfast item, and they purchase pallets of our product and get them into their meal kits and send them off to hungry kids across the country.”
Her advice to any small business owner thinking of applying? Do it!
“The impact of Food for Good on our company stretches so far and wide,” Liddle says. “They’re not only a customer of ours, now they’re a true partner.”
How to Apply
Qualifying female-founded businesses can apply to be part of the program via the Food for Good website.
To become a supplier, your product must meet or exceed the USDA’s nutrition standards for Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) Meals and Snacks.
Your product must also meet the following price guidelines:
- Grains: $.13-$.30
- Proteins: $.20-$.75
- Vegetables: $.15-$.45
- Fruits: $.15-$.45
- Juices (Vegetable or Fruit): $.18-$.25
- Milk: $.20-$.50
In addition, you and your company must be advancing food security in some manner including, but not limited to, nutrition education, minimizing food waste, increasing access to healthy food or other initiatives
Finally, your product must current be sold and distributed in the U.S.
