Food Donation in Hong Kong: How Restaurants and Homes Can Put Surplus to Work
Hong Kong disposes of approximately 3,300 tonnes of food every single day. That figure — roughly the weight of 330 double-decker buses hitting landfill in 24 hours — has anchored Hong Kong's environmental debate for over a decade. Yet there is a parallel story, quieter and more encouraging: a growing network of food banks, charities, and redistribution platforms that intercept edible surplus before it reaches the bin.
Food donation in Hong Kong is more accessible than most businesses and home cooks realise. The logistics, the legal framework, and the collection infrastructure have all matured significantly over the past five years. This post explains who is doing the work, how the system operates, and how your restaurant, café, or household can participate.
The organisations doing the heavy lifting
Three charities form the backbone of Hong Kong's food redistribution network.
Feeding Hong Kong was established in 2011 with a dual mandate: fight hunger and reduce the amount of edible food going to landfill. It operates a food bank that collects surplus from hotels, restaurants, and food manufacturers, then redistributes it to over 120 partner charities — senior centres, crisis shelters, after-school programmes, and food banks across all 18 districts. As of 2025, Feeding Hong Kong works with more than 420 food companies. Their Food Donation Toolkit makes it straightforward for businesses to formalise a regular collection partnership, with templates for donation logs, food safety checklists, and staff briefing.
Food Angel, run by the Bo Charity Foundation, takes a different approach: it rescues surplus food primarily to prepare hot meals. The organisation currently rescues 33 tonnes of edible surplus every week — enough to produce over 20,000 nutritious meals and distribute 6,500-plus food packs daily. Several hotels and restaurants have formalised donation partnerships: Sha Tin 18 donates surplus bakery items and vegetables each day; JW Marriott donates food that cannot be repurposed into future service.
Foodlink Foundation focuses on connecting F&B outlets directly to beneficiaries, with a particular emphasis on reducing cold-chain waste — intercepting refrigerated surplus before it hits its sell-by window.
Across the three organisations, Hong Kong now has a network of 17 charitable organisations providing some form of food donation service. The infrastructure exists. The gap is participation.
What the law says about donating food
One of the biggest barriers to food donation — especially among restaurants — is legal concern. What happens if a recipient becomes ill after eating donated food?
Hong Kong does not currently have a "Good Samaritan" food donation law equivalent to those in the United States or Australia. However, the Environmental Protection Department has published clear guidance: food must be safe for consumption at the time of donation, properly labelled where required, and stored and transported under appropriate hygiene conditions. Reputable charity partners like Feeding Hong Kong and Food Angel have established collection, transport, and inspection protocols that protect both donor and recipient. Most operators who engage through established charities have never encountered a legal issue.
If you are a business considering donation for the first time, contact one of the three organisations above. They will walk you through their intake requirements and hygiene protocols — less complicated than most operators assume.
How businesses can start donating
The most common entry point for restaurants and retailers is a scheduled end-of-day collection. The process typically runs as follows:
A designated team member sets aside unsold but safe items 30–60 minutes before close.
The charity partner collects at an agreed time.
The business receives a donation receipt for tax purposes — food donations can qualify for a deduction under the Inland Revenue Ordinance via qualified charitable organisations.
Feeding Hong Kong's Food Donation Toolkit provides templates for this process end to end. For businesses generating irregular surplus — event caterers, hotels, corporate canteens — Feeding Hong Kong also handles ad hoc collections with sufficient lead time.
The EPD has offered free food waste collection services for commercial and industrial sectors since 2021. While this routes food to biogas and composting rather than redistribution, it is a viable fallback for surplus that doesn't meet donation hygiene standards.
What can and cannot be donated
Most edible cooked and prepared food can be donated if it has been stored correctly. Charities typically accept:
Packaged dry goods within their use-by date
Cooked meals maintained above 60°C or refrigerated promptly below 4°C
Fresh produce with significant shelf life remaining
Bread, pastries, and bakery items (usually collected same day)
Canned and non-perishable goods
Charities typically cannot accept food that has already been served to guests (health regulations), anything where the cold chain cannot be maintained during transfer, or food past its use-by date.
For home cooks: smaller-scale options
Most of the infrastructure above is built for commercial volumes. Home cooks have fewer options, but meaningful ones.
Community fridges have been piloted in several Hong Kong districts — publicly accessible refrigerators where residents can leave surplus food for neighbours. Availability varies, but installations have grown since 2023.
Foodlink Foundation accepts non-perishable goods from households in certain circumstances.
Building WhatsApp groups and neighbourhood platforms have informally become redistribution channels for surplus home cooking, particularly in community-oriented estates.
The most impactful step for home cooks remains buying less through better planning — but for inevitable surplus, community channels are increasingly viable.
How CHOMP fits into the picture
CHOMP operates earlier in the supply chain than food banks — intercepting surplus before it becomes waste, not after it has been discarded. Restaurants and cafés that list on CHOMP sell Mystery Boxes to consumers at 50–70% off, generating revenue from food that would otherwise be thrown away.
Listing on CHOMP and donating to Feeding Hong Kong or Food Angel are complementary, not competing. CHOMP handles commercial surplus with remaining sale value; charities handle genuine donation surplus. Together, they cover the full spectrum of end-of-day surplus recovery.
For restaurants looking to reduce food waste systematically — and to connect with an audience that actively seeks sustainable dining options — partnering with CHOMP is a concrete first step.
Turn your surplus into revenue — not waste
CHOMP helps Hong Kong restaurants and cafés sell end-of-day surplus as Surprise Bags — reducing food waste, recovering value, and connecting with sustainability-conscious diners.
Partner with CHOMP