Moscow, 30 January 2024 – X5 Group (“X5” or the “Company”, LSE and MOEX ticker: FIVE), a leading Russian food retailer, has announced the results of its Basket of Kindness food sharing and donation project for 2023. More than 936 tonnes of food and non-food items were distributed to people in need over this period. Over 469,000 people received food assistance during the year, a more than two-fold increase over the amount distributed in 2022.
In 2023, the Basket of Kindness project run by X5 Group in partnership with the Foodbank Rus charitable foundation and other charities provided assistance to over 374,000 people, including pensioners, disabled individuals and large families in need. Food drives held across X5 stores, as well as donations via the Basket of Kindness website and in-kind product donations by X5 and its Pyaterochka and Perekrestok retail chains, brought in 879.3 tonnes of food.
The Basket of Kindness project considerably expanded its footprint in 2023. Its food drives took place in Pyaterochka and Perekrestok stores across 234 Russian cities and towns, collecting 737.5 tonnes of food. About 17.7 tonnes of food were purchased using funds collected via the Basket of Kindness website, with X5 donating another 124.1 tonnes of food from its own stocks.
Over 586,000 customers of X5’s retail chains donated food to people in need through these food drives. The charity campaigns and drives involved more than 45,000 Foodbank Rus volunteers and 1,866 X5 store employees.
In recent years, the Basket of Kindness project has been helping not only people but also animals, with over 14.2 tonnes of pet food collected for 5,000 dogs and more than 1,500 cats living in 17 animal shelters across Russia over 2023.
In addition, X5 provided more than 56 tonnes of food to over 95,000 individuals through its food sharing programme, which distributes non-expired food and non-food products from X5 stores to people in need. More than 5,600 volunteers from Foodbank Rus and the Foodsharing non-profit distributed the collected products to beneficiaries in ten cities of Russia.
Today, the food sharing programme covers Moscow, St Petersburg, Chelyabinsk, Yekaterinburg, Ryazan, Izhevsk, Krasnodar, Rostov-on-Don, Voronezh, and Tomsk. The project involves 62 Pyaterochka and Perekrestok stores, 11 dark stores and one distribution centre.
Galina Sekirinskaya, X5 Group’s Head of Brand and CSR:
“Our results for 2023 are truly impressive and inspiring. We see that people are willing to help and contribute to good causes, and this makes our society stronger and kinder. I would like to express my special thanks to our store employees who joined the volunteers from our partner charities to become key participants of our food sharing drives and the Basket of Kindness project, strongly contributing to these initiatives. Through their efforts and the support of X5 customers, we are not only helping those in need but also promoting a culture of giving in our society. Importantly, the Basket of Kindness project makes giving simple and accessible, showing that anyone can make a difference. We are pleased that the footprint of X5 Group’s charitable projects is constantly expanding, making support more available to anyone who needs it.”
Anna Alieva-Khrustalyova, Vice President of the Foodbank Rus charitable foundation and Editor-in-Chief of the About Food Sharing media project:
“Our volunteers have really enjoyed participating in the Basket of Kindness. For some, this initiative is a learning experience that helps them to overcome their fear of talking to new people, while others are happy to see the results of their efforts. And the results are visible from day one – you see the huge amount of products collected and the significant number of people who did not walk past you but stopped to help those in need. Partnering with a big retailer like X5 Group is very important for the entire charity sector, and gives us the opportunity to pursue good causes and make a difference in every corner of our large country.”