Samyan Mitrtown together with 9 partners join hands with Scholars of Sustenance Thailand (SOS) for the food donation project ‘Mitr Pan Mitr’ to support communities affected by a new wave of COVID-19

(22 January 2021) The new wave of COVID-19 spread in Thailand has led to unprecedented adverse economic and social consequences. Samyan Mitrtown, a friend in times of adversity, is ready to lend a helping hand to impacted communities by stepping up as a hub that gather food for donation from restaurant partners in its shopping mall with an aim to reduce food waste and living expenses of Thais affected by the situation.

Samyan Mitrtown joins hands with Scholars of Sustenance Thailand (SOS) or ‘Food Rescue Foundation’ for ‘Mitr Pan Mitr’ which is the food donation project with the objective to donate foods to communities impacted by the new wave of COVID-19. The project will be part of SOS to serve 4.5 million meals per year.

Each year, the World faces environmental challenge caused by 1,300 tonnes of food waste in landfills which contributes to 8% of greenhouse gas leading to global warming. ¹With sustainability concept at heart, Samyan Mitrtown aims to reduce environmental impact in the communities. Samyan Mitrtown initiated the ‘Mitr Pan Mitr’ project for distributing the foods from the partnered restaurants: Oishi Eaterium, Shabushi, Mx Cakes & Bakery, Bake a Wish, Jip Jip, Kingkong Sweets, White Story, The Spicy House and Ya Kun Kaya Toast.

Miss Thiranant Kornsritipa, Executive Vice President – Retail Business Development, Frasers Property Commercial (Thailand) said that “With collaboration of Samyan Mitrtown and our partners, we can provide foods to the communities in need to help alleviate cost of living during the COVID-19 crisis. Samyan Mitrtown and SOS have been working together to establish a distribution system for foods donation project. To ensure the foods are safe, the Foundation has shared knowledge to participating partners on food preservation and shelf-life management. Samyan Mitrtown will be the collecting point for this project and the foundation will be responsible for daily operations, pick up the donated foods and deliver to the communities.”

Mr. James Leyson, Managing Director of Scholars of Sustenance Thailand (SOS) said “We believe that supporting communities and being environmentally friendly is the main driving force for better changes in the society. ‘Samyan Mitrtown’ is an ideal place to be used as the hub for collecting and distributing foods with the ‘Mitr Pan Mitr’ community fridge.” James Leyson said.

With the COVID-19 preventive measures put in place to ensure the safety, the partnered restaurants, operations team and communities are required to:

1. All food items must be packed in sealed containers.
2. The food containers will be stored in a fridge while frozen foods will be stored in a freezer.
3. Details of all donated foods must be recorded at the donation point.
4. SOS will collect food at the donation point everyday from 11.00 am – 5.00 pm.
5. SOS will return food containers from the previous day and pick up the new food items.
6. SOS will distribute foods to the communities within the day.
7. The Foundation will distribute donated foods to representatives of communities in need or representatives of the organizations for further distribution.
8. All members of the operations team taking part in food collection or distribution must wear masks at all times. The Foundation has prepared face masks for all staff and sanitizers must be used to clean and disinfect all food contact surfaces.

Communities or those impacted by COVID-19 can register as donation recipients for ‘Mitr Pan Mitr’ project by contacting Scholars of Sustenance Thailand (SOS) or Food Rescue Foundation at 02-075-1417 and 062-675-0004.

¹ Tackling Thailand's food-waste crisis