Sangmidang Holdings marks 28 years of food bank giving with refrigerated truck donation

20 refrigerated trucks to be donated by 2030; Chairman Heo Young-in attends handover ceremony

343.9 billion won in food donated since 1998, described as largest among domestic food companies

Kim Hyun-hoon (left), chairman of the Korea Council of Social Welfare, and Heo Young-in, chairman of Sangmidang Holdings, pose for a photo at a food bank delivery vehicle handover ceremony held Tuesday at Miraecreation Center in Sindaebang-dong, Dongjak-gu, Seoul. [Sangmidang Holdings]

The Happy Foundation, a social welfare organization affiliated with Sangmidang Holdings, said Tuesday it had donated two refrigerated trucks for food delivery to the Korea National Food Bank, operated by the Korea Council of Social Welfare.

The donation brings the cumulative total to 12 trucks since the foundation signed an MOU with the food bank in October 2022 and began donating vehicles. The Happy Foundation plans to donate eight more by 2030, for a total of 20.

The handover ceremony was held Tuesday at Miraecreation Center in Sindaebang-dong, Dongjak-gu, Seoul, and was attended by Sangmidang Holdings Chairman Heo Young-in, Korea Council of Social Welfare Chairman Kim Hyun-hoon, and representatives of regional food banks. Sangmidang Holdings also loaded 4,000 loaves of bread onto the vehicles for delivery. The trucks will be deployed in Busanjin-gu, Busan, and Gyeryong, South Chungcheong Province.

The food bank operates more than 440 regional hubs nationwide, distributing donated food and daily necessities to vulnerable populations. In some areas, aging delivery vehicles have degraded refrigeration and freezing capabilities or break down frequently, and the cost of replacing them is a burden. Sangmidang Holdings has been donating vehicles equipped with refrigeration and freezing functions to ease those difficulties.

Sangmidang Holdings' food donations to the food bank date to 1998, when the national food bank program launched. The effort began when Paris Croissant and Paris Baguette franchisees joined a food-sharing initiative during the Asian financial crisis. Participation later expanded to include outlets and franchisees of affiliates such as Baskin-Robbins and Dunkin'.

As of the first half of this year, cumulative food donations to the food bank by the group's affiliates and franchisees totaled 343.9 billion won ($254 million), accounting for about 10 percent of all food bank donations nationwide — the largest of any domestic food company. About 1,200 outlets across the country currently participate. The average annual donation over the past five years has been about 17 billion won.

Heo received the Seokryu Order of Civil Merit in 2000 for his early leadership in food donations to the food bank program. The Happy Foundation received a commendation from the Minister of Health and Welfare in 2019, and Sangmidang Holdings received a ministerial award from the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2023. At the ceremony, Heo said: "The food sharing we began with the food bank in 1998 grew out of a desire to share warmth with neighbors in need, and it has been a cherished commitment we have kept for 28 years."

Kim Hyun-hoon (third from left), chairman of the Korea Council of Social Welfare, and Heo Young-in (fourth from left), chairman of Sangmidang Holdings, pose for a photo with representatives of the Gyeryong City Love Sharing Food Bank and Busanjin-gu Food Market at the food bank delivery vehicle handover ceremony held Tuesday at Miraecreation Center in Sindaebang-dong, Seoul. [Sangmidang Holdings]

korean@heraldcorp.com