In light of the difficult circumstances affecting people all over the country, and their access to food, Sophie’s Kitchen—known for its plant-based seafood alternatives—has donated 3,000 cases of its plant-based Toona to local Bay Area food shelters. The new Lemon Grass Toona flavor has never seen grocery store shelves and instead 100% of this new product has gone to those who are in need the most amidst the COVID19 pandemic.
Sophie’s Kitchen donated approximately 3,000 cases of plant-based Toona ($210,000 MSRP) to local food banks throughout the San Francisco Bay Area to help meet the immediate needs of people who don’t have access to their normal food programs during this pandemic. Sophie’s Kitchen CEO, Miles Woodruff, personally dropped off the canned “Toona” to Second Harvest Silicon Valley, Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano County, and Food Banks of San Francisco and Marin.
“Everyone we have dropped off to has been so grateful and has asked about how they can use the new items. We say to just use it like they would with the non-vegan counterpart,” says CEO Miles Woodruff.
“Having worked with a social entrepreneur project in rural Kenya for a while, through Think Impact“, Miles states, “This is the most human interaction I have had in a while!
You can’t save the animals without directly working with people. Being on the front line of working with people to help change their diet for the better is the best way to get positive interaction”.
Due to the COVID virus, Sophie’s kitchen delayed the launch of the new Lemon Grass Toona, which ended up being the best way for them to make an impact on their community.
“I am grateful for the way it worked out the way it did so we can use the product for good.
Food banks are great because they can get it safely distribute food without having to make people get out of their cars to retrieve it.
The Sophie’s Kitchen products that are available to the public are selling out immediately, even with a shelf-life of nearly two years, (expiring in 2022).
Sophie’s Kitchen encourages other corporations to “pay it forward” by doing the right thing by investing in and stocking up on healthy, plant-based companies and goods to donate to non-profit organizations that are in the most need now more than ever.
Miles adds, “The Jane Goodal Institute is one of the organizations near and dear to my heart. Chimpanzees still need bananas. We are aligned with wildlife and now we are facing the quarter where the economy is taking a hit, but with people at home that are still employed and able to contribute, these are great ways to help”.
“We are all about hope at Sophie’s Kitchen. We are happy to provide a product that is so good that people want to use it to make the shift to plant-based themselves. We just want to continue to make it taste great with a price point that people can work with”.
