I think we can all agree that 2023 has been a year full of ups and downs.
But despite all that, we’ve powered through, and our wonderful HeroGo community has banded together to fight for a greener future.
From reducing food waste to helping the planet and providing meals for the hungry, there’s so much to be proud of this year - and we have you to thank for that!
“In a year marked by unprecedented challenges, HeroGo has stood strong, and our incredible community has shown unwavering dedication to our mission,” HeroGo CEO, Daniel, says.
“Together, we've achieved remarkable milestones in the fight against food waste, climate change and inequality. But our impact extends beyond numbers; it's about the positive change we're bringing to our world.”
Want to know the impact you’ve made? You’re in the right place. Let’s take a look through the facts, figures and milestones, and you’ll see why 2023 has been our best year yet!
First things first…
In 2023, we rescued a grand total of 317.715 tons of fruit and veg.
…That’s an awful lot of food!
What does that mean for climate change?
All that food you’ve helped to rescue means we’ve saved lots of CO2e as well.
But what on earth is CO2e?
Well, when something creates a greenhouse gas it has an impact on the environment. We look at how much CO2 it would take to have the same environmental impact, and we use the term CO2e to measure it.
In this case, when food waste decomposes in landfill it creates methane - a gas which contributes more to climate change than CO2. Using the term CO2e just makes it easier to make these comparisons while showing the impact of food waste on the environment.
So, how did we do?
You wonderful bunch have saved 319,682.761kg CO2e in 2023. That’s had the same environmental impact as planting 14,679 mature trees.
That’s a huge reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, so Mother Nature thanks you!
The savings keep flowing in
When food gets wasted, the resources that went into growing it also gets wasted - including the water used for irrigation, processing and transportation.
So, along with all the food you’ve saved this year, you’ve also saved 155,211,200.775 litres of water. That’s equivalent to 62 Olympic-sized swimming pools!
It’s enough to provide a person with water for over 282,200 days (that’s over 773 years!), or to support 29 football fields worth of mixed-crop farmland.
If anything shows how inefficient the grocery ecosystem really is, it’s that! Food waste puts a huge stress on water resources, and when water scarcity is a worry, we should be using it as efficiently as possible.
We haven’t just helped the planet…
In 2023 our commitment is to providing 107,000 meals to those in need, which is 2 meals for every box delivered.
We’ve already donated a whopping 26,000 with the others due to be distributed in the coming period,
At HeroGo, we’re firm believers that food waste has as much of a social impact as an environmental one, since it has such a huge effect on food security - that’s why it’s always been our goal to fight inequality too.
In 2023 our food waste community has gone above and beyond to provide aid to those who need it, and we thank you for your generosity!
In other news
We’ve been busy bees at HeroGo this year!
Not only did we launch our office fruit delivery service, but we also opened our very own facility which is helping us to reach more food waste heroes while providing a much better service.
That’s not to mention the fact that we also started stocking pantry products - with more coming soon! - so you can save even more time and money on your weekly food shop.
We put a lot of effort into spreading the word about food waste this year too, with talks, presentations and appearances at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, Step Conference in Dubai, National Dialogue for Food Security and COP28, to name a few.
Remember our limited edition Ramadan boxes? Created in association with HSBC, they contributed thousands of meals to those in need. On top of that, we also teamed up with Visa, Goumbook and BCG for some of our incredible meal packing events.
As a result of all our great work, HeroGo was nominated as the Startup Company of the Year for the Arabian Business Achievement Awards 2023, and we also earned a spot on the prestigious Future100 list courtesy of the UAE Ministry of Economy and the Government Development and the Future Office.
All in all…
It’s been a big year for us here at HeroGo, and we couldn’t have done it without you!
Not only have we prevented thousands of kilograms of perfectly good food from ending up in landfill, but the amount of CO2e and water we’re saving is going a long way to protecting the planet.
Luckily, these facts and figures have the potential to inform policy and guide strategy for reducing waste, improving resource efficiency and combating climate change, so everything we’re doing really is making change.
“As we look back on 2023, we stand on the brink of an even brighter future,” says HeroGo CEO, Daniel.
“Let's continue to grow our food waste community, to inspire others, and to make 2024 an even better year for our planet and humanity.”