CATRION Catering Holding Company and the Ekram Food Bank Association have renewed their collaboration after donating more than 11 million food items over the past two years. The achievement underscores the program's widening social and environmental reach, safeguarding food resources, strengthening food security and curbing food waste in support of Saudi Vision 2030.
Grounded in CATRION's commitment to environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles, the joint effort focuses on putting safe surplus food to better use and deepening cooperation with the nonprofit sector to create lasting value for the community. Launched in Jeddah, it has since expanded to Riyadh, Dammam and Madinah under a shared plan to extend its reach across the Kingdom.
Eng. Ziyad Al-Harbi, Executive Director of Environmental, Social and Governance at CATRION, said: "Renewing this work builds on the results we have achieved since launch. With the Ekram Food Bank Association, we have built an integrated system to recover safe surplus food, verify it against the highest food-safety standards, and redistribute it to beneficiaries safely and in an organized way.
"It is a working model that unites environmental sustainability, food security and community service, turning our ESG commitments into measurable results."
Dr. Ahmed bin Harbi Al-Mutarfi, Chairman of the Ekram Food Bank Association, said: "This alliance has opened new avenues for the Association to widen its impact and serve diverse segments of society. It has also helped us deliver high-quality services to pilgrims and visitors, showing what joint programs can achieve."
Al-Mutarfi added that the collaboration reflects the rapid growth of Saudi Arabia's nonprofit sector and its increasingly pivotal role in delivering direct, sustainable development outcomes through strategic alliances that improve quality of life.
At the core of the model is a sustainable system for managing and redistributing safe surplus food in line with the highest food-safety standards. By cutting waste, using resources better and strengthening food security, the program has redistributed more than 11 million food items through over 4,000 operations, reaching more than 9 million beneficiaries since launch.
Its reach extends to Ramadan and Hajj, where the programs serve pilgrims and visitors, provide iftar meals at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, and support visitors to the Prophet's Mosque in
Madinah. They also reach families in need, reflecting community values of preserving food resources, encouraging moderation in consumption, and turning social responsibility into practical action.
Beyond food distribution, the work has grown into community empowerment, with programs focused on skills development and women's empowerment in cooperation with relevant entities, alongside initiatives that broaden social participation and strengthen volunteering, reinforcing the private sector's role in national development.
The program also advances circular-economy principles: recovering safe surplus food, reducing waste, and promoting responsible environmental practice. It is CATRION's ESG strategy in action: sustainability embedded in operations and translated into initiatives with measurable results.
The model has proven its strength in converting safe surplus food into real social value, earning the Gulf Sustainability Award for Best Social Initiative in 2025 in recognition of its contribution to community service and sustainability.
CATRION reaffirmed its commitment to scaling its social initiatives, deepening collaboration with nonprofit organizations, and building on the progress achieved so far. The company said these efforts will develop programs with lasting impact, support the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030, and reinforce its role as an active partner in serving the community and preserving resources.
