$1 = 20 pounds of produce rescued, 16 meals provided to food-insecure individuals and a reduction of 90 pounds of CO2 emissions.* This impact comes from avoiding methane pollution and the wasted resources that would occur if those 20 lbs of food were left to rot.

Each pound of food rescued has an estimated retail value of $1.92. Therefore, for every $1 spent, an economic impact of approximately $38.40 in food value is generated.

See the types of foods rescued here. 

These metrics show remarkable efficiency in creating multiple layers of impact (food waste reduction, hunger relief, and environmental benefits) per dollar donated.

* EPA’s WARM tool estimates that rescuing 1 short ton of mixed food waste (preventing it from landfills and avoiding the need to produce new food) can avoid up to ~4.08 metric tons of CO₂-equivalent emissions. That high-end scenario (including upstream production savings) translates to about 4.5 lbs of CO₂ avoided per pound of food donated. So per dollar donation 90 (20*4.5) lbs of CO₂ avoided.

The organization has been led by a capable team since its founding in 2018. They have expanded their team to 59 members, and established partnerships with more than 660 organizations. Their work includes managing complex logistics systems across diverse contexts.

While the team has achieved notable progress, they are still relatively early in their development. As a younger organization, they have limited long-term track record, but their work to date reflects solid execution and a clear commitment to continued growth.

Mission: To solve the logistical barriers between excess and scarcity to efficiently rescue and distribute surplus from retailers, wholesalers, and farmers to a network of hunger relief organizations to alleviate food insecurity.

Vision: A more sustainable and equitable food system.

Values: Sustainability, equity, community empowerment, and innovation

Read more here

Their solution efficiently connects surplus food to those in need through a clear, logistics-based platform that tracks donations from source to destination. With a successful volunteer model and easy-to-use technology, they make food rescue both scalable and effective.

Sharing Excess’s model is highly scalable, using a flexible technology platform that works across different regions and food supply chains. With a long-term goal of operating in every major food terminal worldwide, they aim to ensure all edible surplus is properly donated and never wasted. Their adaptable partnerships and proven success in both urban and suburban areas demonstrate strong potential for national and global expansion.

Sharing Excess has begun to develop self-sustaining capabilities through service fees from partners and food banks, potential technology licensing, and operational efficiencies. However, these efforts are not yet sufficient to cover all operational and expansion costs, leaving the organization reliant on significant ongoing donations to achieve its mission and scale effectively.

Sharing Excess is taking concrete steps toward self-sustainability through earned income streams such as service fees for food sourcing, transportation logistics, and organic waste management. In FY2023, these program services generated about $801k in revenue, alongside $3M in cash contributions and grants.

When excluding donated food (valued at $65.8M), Sharing Excess’s true cash operating costs were about $3M. Earned revenue covered roughly 26.7% of those costs, with the balance still dependent on grants and donations

While this shows meaningful progress toward diversification, the majority of operations remain reliant on philanthropy. Expanding fee-based partnerships and service income will be essential for long-term sustainability.

Sharing Excess faces minimal risk of impact reversal due to ongoing food waste and hunger, strong community ties, and reliable partnerships. Their tech stack and diverse funding make their model stable and sustainable long term.

The main risks to their model include changes in food industry practices, shifts in donation patterns, and economic disruptions. Sharing Excess reduces these risks through strong partnerships and flexible strategies.

Sharing Excess provides a link to their financials page on their website. Also, they shared their 2024 audit here.

To promote operational transparency, Sharing Excess lists upcoming events and shares news updates on their website, making information about their activities publicly accessible. Additionally, their app provides more detailed, real-time information about surplus food pickups and donations.

Sharing Excess will provide monthly updates. These cover progress, challenges, and key developments, with real-time impact once funding begins. All updates are available through their custom web app for easy access and sharing.

Sharing Excess has been in operation since 2018, making it 7 years old as of 2025.

• Retail Rescue Program has been operational since 2018 and continues to evolve, making it 6 years in duration. 

• Wholesale Rescue Program şaunched in July 2021, this project has been active for approximately 2.5 years. 

• Direct Link Program began in 2022 and is currently ongoing, making it 2 years in duration. 

Sharing Excess has successfully rescued and redistributed over 171 million pounds of fresh food to date. This monumental effort has provided the equivalent of over 65 million meals to individuals and families facing food insecurity across Philadelphia and beyond. 

Additionally, by diverting food from landfills, Sharing Excess has prevented the release of approximately 292 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions — that’s roughly the same annual emissions produced by 68 million gasoline-powered passenger cars.

The solution of diverting surplus food to feed people is not new — food banks and rescue programs have operated for decades. What distinguishes Sharing Excess is how they’ve scaled this approach since their founding in 2018, using technology and logistics to move food more efficiently and transparently. So while the solution-set has been demonstrated effective for well over 7 years in the broader sector, Sharing Excess’s own model has proven effective in practice for about 7 years to date.

Sharing Excess exemplifies its core values—sustainability, equity, and community empowerment—through practical actions like rescuing surplus food and prioritizing distribution to underserved areas. Its sustainability efforts include composting inedible food and minimizing landfill waste, making environmental stewardship a daily operational priority. The organization advances equity by serving marginalized communities without requiring proof of need, reducing stigma and increasing access to nutritious food. Through strong community partnerships, volunteer engagement, and transparent tracking via a custom app, Sharing Excess fosters empowerment and accountability across all its initiatives.

Sharing Excess has a clear and measurable "Big Goal" of distributing 1 billion pounds of food by 2030.

Sharing Excess mentioned having an internal roadmap with cost projections, but without access to those figures, it's challenging to fully evaluate their financial planning. That said, they demonstrate a strong understanding of the impact of their donations on a per-dollar basis.

Without accounting for scaling costs, if $1 rescues 20 lbs and the “big goal” is 1 billion pounds, it will cost an estimated $50,000,000 to achieve this objective.

Yes,  for every $1 invested, Sharing Excess is able to rescue approximately 20 pounds of food. This translates to about 16 meals provided to individuals in need. Each pound of food rescued has an estimated retail value of $1.92. Therefore, for every $1 spent, we generate an economic impact of approximately $38.40 in food value.

Lastly, each pound of food rescued prevents approximately 4.5 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions from entering the atmosphere. This means that for every dollar spent, we contribute to the prevention of 90 pounds of CO2 emissions.

Sharing Excess provides quantifiable metrics of their work, including total food rescued, meals provided, economic value generated, and greenhouse gas emissions reduced.

Sharing Excess has a robust monitoring and verification system in place, utilizing a combination of technology, data analysis, and community feedback. Their custom mobile app allows for real-time tracking of donations and distributions, ensuring accurate data collection (example screenshot).

Sharing Excess’s solution targets a systemic factor in food insecurity – the breakdown between surplus food and people in need. By improving logistics and infrastructure, it ensures more nutritious excess food reaches families who lack it. This approach attacks a key cause of avoidable hunger (food not getting to the hungry) and is a crucial part of the solution. However, it complements – rather than replaces – efforts to address other root causes of food insecurity like poverty, unemployment, and lack of affordable living costs

Sharing Excess presented a multi-faceted revenue model combining earned income from service fees, philanthropic support, and partnerships with food businesses.  While currently reliant on a mix of revenue streams, their commitment to increasing earned revenue through service fees demonstrates a path towards greater self-sufficiency.

Sharing Excess acknowledged the challenge of predicting the emergence of new solutions. However, they emphasized their openness to collaboration and adaptation, focusing on maximizing impact within their niche of food rescue. Their willingness to adapt to new solutions strengthens their long-term viability.

Sharing Excess demonstrated a deep integration with local communities. Their partnerships with over 660 organizations, volunteer engagement opportunities, and focus on empowering local leaders showcase a collaborative approach to addressing food insecurity.  Their work goes beyond food distribution, aiming to build community ownership and resilience.

Based on our review, there is no negative impact on indigenous populations.

They also partnered with the Hopi Reservation between March and November 2023 and provided 121,826 lbs of donated food.

Sharing Excess is creating a long-term impact by addressing the root causes of food waste and insecurity, fostering sustainable food systems that can benefit future generations. Additionally, their commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through food rescue and composting ensures environmental sustainability, securing a healthier, more equitable future for the generations to come. 

While the organization effectively targets systemic inefficiencies, it does not directly address poverty alleviation, limiting its ability to guarantee food security for beneficiaries seven generations into the future. However, they shared with us some of their advocacy plans for policy change around nutrition access.

Sharing Excess acknowledges the potential unintended consequences of food rescue—such as dependency, market disruption, and recipient stigmatization—and proactively addresses them through community empowerment and strategic partnerships. By integrating donations into broader programs like nutrition education and supporting local vendors through collaborative, non-competitive food distribution, the organization fosters long-term resilience rather than dependency. Additionally, its inclusive, rights-based approach to food access reduces stigma and ensures that rescued food serves as a tool for empowerment, not marginalization.

They also have a food recall response protocol to ensure the quality of the products being distributed.

The main negative consequences of Sharing Excess’s approach include potential community dependency on gifted food, market disruption, and stigma around receiving aid. These risks are actively mitigated through education, strategic partnerships, and a destigmatizing, community-centered model. While not all impacts are formally quantified per partner, the organization monitors these concerns through collaboration and adjusts practices to align with each project’s context.

Distributing one billion pounds of food by 2030 is an extremely audacious goal, especially considering their current scale. The goal is both ambitious and transformative in addressing food waste and hunger at a national scale.

Food waste and food insecurity represent complex, systemic challenges that involve multiple stakeholders, logistical hurdles, and deeply rooted societal issues. The challenge requires coordinating numerous parties (food businesses, distributors, nonprofits, volunteers), managing perishable goods, and creating efficient distribution networks. Despite many organizations working on this issue, no one has fully solved these interconnected problems, highlighting the extreme difficulty of the challenge.

Sharing Excess has demonstrated remarkable innovation by developing proprietary technology for real-time food rescue, creating efficient logistics for large-scale operations, and building a hybrid model that blends volunteer support with professional management. Its strategic partnerships enable effective last-mile distribution, and the organization proved its agility by rapidly scaling during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2023, 14.3% of U.S. households—about 47.4 million people—experienced food insecurity, including 7.2 million children, marking the highest rate in nearly a decade. Meanwhile, food waste—constituting roughly 24% of landfill volume—produces 58% of fugitive methane emissions from landfills, a greenhouse gas up to 25× more potent than CO₂. Globally, food loss and waste drive 11% of greenhouse gas emissions, amplifying climate change. This overlap of urgent hunger and environmental harm demands swift intervention—from reducing waste to strengthening food assistance—to avert deepening social and climatic crises.