Annual Report 2020
Rethinking Food Insecurity
2020 presented unprecedented challenges for underserved communities and many small businesses, including restaurants. When the pandemic hit neighborhoods across the country, it inevitably led to two crises: the rise in food insecurity and restaurant closures. Taking care of — and showing up — for our communities lies at the heart of the work we do at Rethink Food and we knew we had to pivot and find ways to help.
Rethink Food was founded in 2017 with the idea to transform excess food from restaurants, corporate kitchens, and grocery stores into nutritious meals. As restaurants started to close when COVID-19 hit, we faced a challenge of our own: losing the main source of excess food that helped keep communities fed with accessible meals.
In March 2020, we leveraged our food rescue and distribution experience to quickly pivot to food relief and launched Rethink Certified, a partnership program to feed communities and keep restaurants and food establishments in operation during the pandemic. We also opened the Rethink Cafe, one of NYC’s first pay-what-you-can community cafes, and increased our efforts through our Commissary Kitchen to expand the ways we feed our communities during this challenging time.
Our annual report provides an in-depth understanding of how we have been examining our past efforts, how we are rethinking the current food system in the most uncertain times, and the ways in which we will have a lasting impact on our communities – not just in times of crisis, but beyond.
I want to thank the Rethink team, our network of partners, community-based organizations, donors, and volunteers that helped support our mission and serve our communities. You have continued to work tirelessly to ensure we get closer to achieving a more sustainable and equitable food system.
Matt Jozwiak
CEO and Founder
2020 impact of the pandemic on communities and restaurants
Rethink Food’s 2020 Impact
Our Programs Feed Communities
2020 has been one of the most challenging times for our communities with more than 45 million people experiencing food insecurity*.
At Rethink Food, our mission is to create a more sustainable and equitable food system — one where everyone has access to nutritious and affordable food. Our programs — Rethink Certified, Rethink Cafe, and the Rethink Commissary Kitchen — are designed to address food insecurity, use underutilized food, and make sure everyone can get access to nutritious meals.
*Feeding America
Rethink Certified
In April 2020, with food insecurity escalating and restaurants facing widespread closures due to the state-mandated shutdown and limited financial aid, Rethink leveraged its experience as a food rescue and distribution model to launch Rethink Certified in April 2020, an emergency response program with a two-fold purpose: to feed communities and keep restaurants in business.
Since April 2020, Rethink has partnered with restaurants and food establishments to prepare culturally sensitive meals for communities facing food insecurity. These meals are distributed through local community-based organizations (CBOs). In exchange, restaurants receive funding and other resources to support integrating community meals into their daily operations.
To scale the distribution of meals, Rethink Food developed Xylem: a web-based technology platform that enabled both the Rethink Certified restaurant partners, and the CBOs for whom they provide meals, to communicate their needs directly with one another in real-time, streamlining operations to better serve and nourish their local communities.
Last year, Rethink invested over $10 million into local restaurants.
Sixty Rethink Certified restaurant partners prepared more than 2.4 million meals for their local communities.
Rethink Cafe
At the height of the pandemic, in March 2020, the Rethink Cafe opened its doors on 154 Clinton Ave, Brooklyn. We knew there would be an increasing need for healthy and accessible meals and as one of New York City’s first pay-what-you-can community cafes, the Rethink Cafe invited everyone and anyone to enjoy a nutritious meal for a suggested donation of $5.
As 23% of the residents of Bedford-Stuyvesant live below the poverty line, food insecurity is a constant struggle. Our donation-based model has been successful in attracting a diverse group of customers. Our Rethink Cafe has become as much as a neighborhood go-to spot for grabbing coffee or lunch or a place where people can pay it forward for someone else’s meal.
In 2020, the Rethink Cafe served over 7,000 meals and its revenue went directly towards our mission to create a more sustainable and equitable food system.
Rethink Commissary Kitchen
Our Commissary Kitchen team converts donated food items from grocery stores, corporate partners and restaurants, into nutritious and culturally sensitive meals that are delivered to local community-based organizations 6 days a week, at no cost. In 2020, Our Commissary Kitchen was able to distribute about 140,000 meals.
“During the pandemic, we really needed to live up to our name, RETHINK! We saw how much more we are needed and learned that in a crisis there are windows of hope when we all come together as a community to help one another. Many people who were unemployed chose to come and volunteer on a weekly basis, we were getting an average of 2 to 3 truck loads of donations almost daily, and all the chefs in the commissary kitchen risked their lives for something bigger than them.” - Felix Martinez, Rethink Food Kitchen Manager
2020 Partner Highlights
Restaurant Partner: Brain Food
Brain Food is located in Brooklyn. Owners Ali and Ana Ahmed have been committed to providing dynamic, nutritious and affordable meals for their community after seeing this disparity between availability and demand of healthy options in their neighborhood. Meals are created with fresh and organic ingredients and cater to different diets including vegan, halal, paleo, Whole 30 and keto. Since joining the Rethink Certified program in April 2020, Brain Food has been preparing 2,000 meals a week for underserved communities.
“Working with Rethink Food has been the best thing that could have happened to my business during COVID-19. They have saved my restaurant from closing its doors and brought back all our employees full-time. We are proud to cook with a higher purpose and serve our community while keeping our business operational.” - Ali Ahmed, Owner of Brainfood
Community-Based Organization:
Bronx House
Bronx House is a community center that provides healthy, educational, recreational and cultural opportunities for neighborhood residents. Bronx House encourages their local community to participate in their wide-array of programs to forge the values of community and the individual. Bronx House has partnered with Rethink since April 2020 and distributed 1,660 meals a week.
“Rethink started providing us with 250 meals a week, but as the pandemic raged on, the need to feed seniors grew exponentially. Today, we receive almost 1,700 meals a week to provide 5 meals a week to Seniors in our community. This was a very frightening time for everyone, especially for Seniors who faced isolation from their loved ones. The last thing they should have had to worry about was where their next meal was coming from.”
- Howard Martin, CEO of Bronx House
Corporate Partner: Brookfield Properties
Brookfield Properties is one of the world’s largest real estate managers. Recognizing COVID 19’s intensification of New York City’s need for emergency food assistance and in an effort to revitalize restaurants in the community, they launched a $1,000,000 partnership with Union Square Hospitality Group and Rethink Food to help speed up the reemployment of restaurant employees and provide more than 125,000 meals to New Yorkers in need.
“Local restaurants are a vital part of our communities, and they have been hit hard by the pandemic. Working with Union Square Hospitality Group and Rethink Food, Brookfield is thrilled to help even just a few of New York City's favorite eateries get back to work and continue to be a defining part of their neighborhoods, all while providing meals for tens of thousands of food-insecure families.” - Callie Haines, Executive Vice President at Brookfield Properties
Food Donor: Kvarøy Arctic Salmon
Kvarøy Arctic shares our belief that everyone should have access to delicious, healthful, and dignified meals. In 2020, Kvaroy Arctic donated 6,000 lbs of sustainable seafood from their native Norway which was utilized in our Rethink Cafe and Commissary Kitchen to create nutritious and culturally sensitive meals for our local communities facing food insecurity.
“The recent pandemic has reinforced our mantra as we learned from chefs, thought leaders and partners about where to give, what support is needed, and where it would have the most impact. Giving whenever and wherever we can. Therefore, it was important for our team to support Rethink Food's work in areas identified as having high numbers of affected individuals from vulnerable communities. Bringing consistent and regular access to lean protein in the form of our sustainably raised frozen fillets, burgers and hot dogs in an effort to help build their capacity for response, support and recovery.“ - Jennifer Bushman, Strategic Development Officer, Kvarøy Arctic
You can find the full list of our 2020 partners here
Our Supporters
Rethink Food’s programs would not be possible without the support of a collective movement of corporations, foundations, food donors, and individuals who supported Rethink in 2020. We are beyond thankful for your support during such a challenging year for our communities.
Anonymous (4)
The Alphadyne Foundation
American Express
Audemars Piguet
The J. Baker Foundation
Michele and Timothy Barakett
Beyond Meat
Brookfield Properties
Costello Charitable Fund
Martin Eltrich
Goldman Sachs
L&L Holding Company
Robin Hood
Benedict Silverman Foundation
Marshall and Amy Smith
Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)
Tiger Global Management
William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust
Natasha and Dirk Ziff
Click here for the full list of our 2020 supporters
We have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the above list but errors and omissions may rarely occur.
If your name has been inadvertently omitted or misspelled, please contact us.
Financial Update
Our lives changed forever when the COVID-19 pandemic struck in March 2020.
In addition to witnessing thousands of restaurants close around the country, we immediately understood that our communities would be seriously impacted by greater food insecurity. The Rethink Certified program was created out of this dual need with a starting and unanticipated budget of $10 million.
We shared our plan with our supporters and received an overwhelming response. Donations of funds as well as food reached all-time peaks, enabling us to go from serving 5,000 meals per week to 85,000 meals per week. We committed to getting as much funding as possible to restaurants and in turn, as many meals as possible to our neighbors.
In 2020, we received nearly $37 million in donations, including a two-year grant to support the new Rethink Certified program that was created as an emergency response to the pandemic. We maintained expenses of approximately $18 million in the year of 2020, with half of that covering Rethink Certified.
As we look to the future of Rethink, we are entirely dependent on charitable contributions to continue our work. Please contact us if you would like to make a gift to Rethink, and if you would like to receive a copy of our 2020 audited financial statements.