Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Barbara Bronstein. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Barbara, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the most important things small businesses can do, in our view, is to serve underserved communities that are ignored by giant corporations who often are just creating mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Talk to us about how you serve an underserved community.

I recognized that steep inflation in grocery prices–currently at 12.2% vs. prior year–is having a severe impact on the 40% of Houston households who struggle to make ends meet. Especially hard hit are low-income families and individuals living on fixed incomes, such as seniors, the disabled, and veterans. So to address the growing need for food, Second Servings, Houston’s only perishable food rescue organization, launched an initiative known as the “PopUp Grocery Store” program. We bring rescued groceries, including bagged salads, vegetable platters, sandwiches, meat, produce, individual meals, dairy, baked goods, and more to affordable housing sites for their residents to enjoy a free shopping experience. The quality and quantity of the food we bring is incredible. It is the perfectly edible unsold food from major retailers that would otherwise go to waste, but is now nourishing people in need, fighting food insecurity, food waste, and inflation…all at the same time.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When the Covid-19 shut downs occurred, it meant the prepared food that we regularly received from hotels, caterers, manufacturers, sports venues and others was going to be greatly reduced. The situation presented an opportunity–to accelerate our longer range plans to expand our food rescue operations into the supermarket segment. Supermarkets provide the most reliable source of surplus food every day, due to unsold products that would otherwise go to waste. We started increasing the number of stores we partner with during the pandemic, and have continued to increase the number of stores in our network. With a steadily increasing food supply, we now deliver both catered food for congregate meal settings, such as homeless shelters and soup kitchens, as well as groceries for families and individuals through food pantries and affordable housing sites.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

When Covid-19 shut down hotels, schools, businesses, etc., we were on the frontlines to rescue literally tons of food that got stuck in the food supply chain. We worked exhaustedly to pick up as much of this food as possible, so it wouldn’t go to waste. The food was incredible…filet mignon, rack of lamb, fresh squeezed orange juice, fresh produce, and lots more. When we went into hotel kitchens that were usually bustling with dozens of staffers preparing banquet meals, there was usually just one person there who was responsible for donating the food inventory. We knew then we had to do more for the hospitality industry that had been so good to us. So we created a mass meal relief program known as “Dinner’s On Us”, which required taking a big risk–buying food for the first time ever–that the chefs at Hess Corporation, one of our outstanding partners, started using to prepare the family-sized meals we distributed throughout the pandemic period. The risk paid off because of the outstanding community support we received, which enabled us to expand our efforts to the entire community, and not just the hospitality industry. By the end of the program, we had delivered over 150,000 chef-prepared meals. It helped build awareness for our nascent organization and increased support for food rescue..

Contact Info:

• Website: www.secondservingshouston.org
• Instagram: secondservingshouston
• Facebook: secondservingshouston
• Linkedin: second-servings-of-houston
• Twitter: @second_servings

Image Credits
Second Servings of Houston