The campaign will encourage people to repurpose excess food; thereby reducing wastage
Dubai, 19 April 2021: Old El Paso – the Tex-Mex-style food brand from American food producer General Mills – has rolled out an innovative campaign in partnership with the UAE Food Bank during the holy month of Ramadan to spread awareness about food wastage.
According to the recent United Nations Environment Programme’s Food Waste Index Report 2021, around 931 million tonnes of food waste was generated globally in 2019, of which 61 percent came from households and the remaining from food service and retail. The UN report also found that the average person in the UAE wastes 95 kilos of food a year.
Each year, Ramadan is widely celebrated across UAE with staple foods such as Fatta, Sambousas, Mahshi, etc., being served during Iftar, the evening meal with which the daily Ramadan fast at sunset is ended. During the first few weeks of the holy month, families cook numerous dishes, which is either repurposed for Suhour or gets wasted as it is not possible to consume the same food over and over again.
With Old El Paso’s innovative solutions, you can now turn leftovers into a different meal altogether, because everything can be made into a burrito! This year during Ramadan, Old El Paso is encouraging people to give a new spin to their leftovers, thereby reducing food wastage. Old El Paso has partnered with the UAE Food Bank to encourage people to reduce food wastage and at the same time support communities in need.
Mr. Ali Shaikh, General Manager – Middle East and Africa, General Mills says “We as a brand believe in doing our bit towards the society and we are thankful for the opportunity to partner with the UAE Food Bank to encourage people on a wider level to reduce food wastage and at the same time support communities in need. We will invite people to visit our website [www.oldelpasoarabia.com/wrapitup] and explore creative and easy recipes to help repurpose their Iftar leftovers into new creative dishes. When they share these recipes with their friends on social media and spread the solution of reducing food wastage, we will donate on their behalf a pack of 6 tortilla wraps to the UAE Food Bank to go in the food boxes distributed to families in need.”
“Ramadan is the month of giving and reflecting. It is also the month of thankfulness, where we count our blessings and share it with others. As part of our commitment to give back, it gives us great pleasure to be partnering with General Mills this Ramadan on a project which is not only creative but raises awareness and encourages the community to reduce food waste. The team at Old El Paso will be coordinating operations with us to ensure 20,000 packs of Old El Paso tortilla wraps are delivered to the required facilities as part of this campaign,” says Iman Albastaki – Head of Food Safety Department, member of the UAE Food Bank Committee.
With this campaign, Old El Paso aims to promote the utilization of their tortilla wraps as a way to repurpose food in a fun and creative way. Under this campaign, Old El Paso will also be engaging with 20 home cooks and influencers on social media with hashtag #Wrapitup.