Surplus vegetables sent to residents at low-cost housing communities: NGO
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s food waste crisis is driven not by food scarcity but by how surplus is managed – or mismanaged – across the supply chain, with thousands of tonnes of edible food discarded daily while only a fraction is salvaged before reaching landfills, according to the Food Aid Foundation (FAF).
Its founder Rick Chee said the organisation saves and redistributes food worth about RM2 million a month through its Klang Valley operations alone, equivalent to nearly RM100,000 worth of food a day, despite operating from a relatively small physical footprint.
He said the scale of the operation often goes unseen because the food moves through the system rapidly, with most items nearing expiry and unable to be stored for long.
“Our annual report averages more than RM20 million a year in food collected. What comes in must get out immediately. We receive, segregate and distribute quickly because the food is close to expiry.
“You will not see the magnitude physically because it moves fast. In the morning, we collect vegetables from the wholesale market, sometimes close to a tonne, repack them and beneficiaries come to pick them up.
“In the evening, we do another round because the market operates in two shifts,” Chee told theSun at FAF’s headquarters in Desa Tun Razak.
He said surplus vegetables are typically channelled to low-cost housing communities, particularly People’s Housing Project sites.
“There are between 70 and 80 People’s Housing Project locations across the Klang Valley. When surplus is high, we deliver directly to these communities. That volume is part of the RM2 million a month that people do not necessarily see.”
He said beyond wet markets, supermarkets and manufacturers represent a major source of food surplus, with FAF making regular collections from about a dozen Lotus’s (formerly Tesco) outlets in the Klang Valley.
“Manufacturers are actually the biggest contributors. They conduct stock checks quarterly or half-yearly, and once products are too close to expiry, retailers do not want them anymore.
“Confectionery and biscuits are significant. We have received multiple 40-foot containers in a single period. One container can take an entire day just to unload.”
According to FAF’s latest figures for 2024, more than 1.19 million kilogrammes of food were distributed during the year.
Of this, 35.7% went to People’s Housing Project residents and community centres, 27.8% to individuals and families, and 21.2% to shelter homes.
The remainder was distributed to flood evacuees, refugees, schools, farm composting initiatives, Orang Asli communities and persons with disabilities.
Chee added that redistribution efforts remain marginal when measured against the scale of national food waste, which he estimated at several thousand tonnes of edible items discarded daily.
“When people talk about 16,000 or 17,000 tonnes of food waste a day, that includes non-edible waste. But even if a quarter is edible, that’s over 4,000 tonnes a day.
“That is thousands of lorries of food going to landfills while people are going hungry.”
He said one of the biggest structural drivers of waste is overly conservative expiry-date practices that lack consistent regulatory oversight.
“Manufacturers set very safe expiry dates to protect themselves. There is no regulation to verify whether those dates could reasonably be longer.
“The government should regulate and certify expiry periods. If the dates are verified and extended, manufacturers reduce returns, logistics costs drop and less food is wasted.
“Surplus and returns are already costed into the system. If businesses are given incentives to donate earlier instead of holding stock until the last moment, food can be saved while still edible.”
Without detailing specific practices, Chee said weak oversight and inconsistent handling of near-expiry food across the supply chain allow edible surplus to be diverted, delayed or disposed outside formal redistribution channels, underscoring the need for clearer rules and stronger enforcement.
He added that food waste must be viewed beyond charity.
“When you waste food, you waste resources such as water, energy and labour. It also contributes to climate change, which pushes food prices higher.”
Chee said a big structural driver of waste is overly conservative expiry-date practices that lack consistent regulatory oversight.
