We are exactly one year away from the next Capital Food Fight, and we are pleased to announce that Wegmans Food Markets has signed on as the official Pantry Sponsor for DC’s baddest night of doing good for the next five years! As the official Pantry Sponsor for Capital Food Fight, Wegmans will provide all fresh ingredients and food products for our battling chefs to use in their quick-fire challenges.
This multi-year, $250,000 pledge toward DC Central Kitchen’s signature fundraising event builds on Wegmans’ holistic commitment to our mission, including supporting our workforce development, helping us build our capacity for nutrition education, and recovering food from their stores to prevent food waste.
“This sponsorship is symbolic of our deep commitment to the DC community, which has been so welcoming,” said Chris Holland, Community Relations for Wegmans. “DC Central Kitchen has been a wonderful partner from the very beginning as we have established ourselves in the District. We both believe in promoting economic advancement by helping people obtain the necessary skills to gain employment, and in reducing waste and hunger by diverting food from landfills into the hands of those who really need it.”
In light of our shared commitment to food recovery and combating hunger, Wegmans has worked with our Procurement team to prevent food waste by donating leftover products from their DC store on Wisconsin Avenue daily.
“DC Central Kitchen uses these incredible products, such as produce and uncooked proteins, in the thousands of meals we produce every day,” says DCCK Director of Procurement Amy Bachman. “Additionally, Wegmans has partnered with Food Rescue US to recover prepared and bakery items to ensure that their stores are minimizing their food waste. To date DCCK has recovered 20,000 lbs. of food from their new DC location since we started the program in the summer.”
In addition to assisting with our food recovery efforts, Wegmans currently collaborates with DCCK by consulting with our Healthy Corners team to enhance our merchandising and produce strategies at corner stores across DC, engaging their expert Corporate Nutrition team as volunteers to help build our capacity for community-based outreach and nutrition education efforts, and hiring our culinary graduates to develop meaningful careers.
“DC Central Kitchen provides many vital services to our community, and we cannot express how much we value the holistic partnership that we’ve formed,” said Holland. “We look forward to strengthening our relationship for years to come.”
Mark your calendars now for Thursday, November 9, 2023 to join us at the next Capital Food Fight as four of DC top chefs battle it out on The Anthem stage using ingredients from Wegmans!
Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. is a regional supermarket chain with 109 stores located along the east coast. The family company, recognized as an industry leader and innovator, celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2016. Wegmans has been named one of the ‘100 Best Companies to Work For’ by FORTUNE magazine for 25 consecutive years, ranking #3 in 2022. The company also ranked #5 for corporate reputation among the 100 most visible companies, according to the 2022 Axios Harris Poll 100 Reputation Quotient® study.