Equoevento

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Equoevento : Less Waste, Less Hunger, More Happiness!

Roma, ItalyRomas, Italy
Year Founded:
2014
Organization type: 
nonprofit/ngo/citizen sector
Project Stage:
Scaling
Budget: 
$50,000 - $100,000
Website:
http://www.equoevento.org
Twitter: 
https://twitter.com/equoevento
Facebook: 
http://www.facebook.com/equoevento
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Project Summary
Elevator Pitch

Concise Summary: Help us pitch this solution! Provide an explanation within 3-4 short sentences.

Equoevento fights food waste related to social events. Almost 1/3 of food produced at events such as weddings, corporate meetings or festivals go normally wasted. This is why we collect excess food and distribute it immediately to those that need it the most, as charities, shelters and homeless

WHAT IF - Inspiration: Write one sentence that describes a way that your project dares to ask, "WHAT IF?"

What if we start feeding everyone with the same food? What if we transform food waste into a resource for society?
About Project

Problem: What problem is this project trying to address?

Equoevento addresses multiple problems: - hunger, poverty and food insecurity: only in Europe over 120 million people are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. - waste and pollution: 12.5 million tons of food are discarded annually from the catering sector producing 23,75 million tons of CO2 annually - social exclusion in big cities where individualism and fast-paced lifestyles are causing indifference towards other human beings.

Solution: What is the proposed solution? Please be specific!

Equoevento collects gourmet food in excess from big social events such as corporate meetings, sport competitions, weddings, galas etc., and distributes them to shelters and the homeless, transforming inefficiency into a resource for society. Through a unique and simple action we: - provide the needy with delicious and nutritious food, the same food offered to guests of important social events - respect nature and environment, promoting an efficient use of resources and preventing that abundance turn into waste - give everyone an opportunity to share their wealth, resources and food with those that are in economic need, encouraging solidarity and generosity.

Awards

IFES Sustainability Challenge – 2015 (Wien) Premio Formica d’Oro – 2015 (Rome) Hilton Worldwide Travel with Purpose Award – 2015 (International)
Impact: How does it Work

Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.

Equoevento is transforming every social event from a moment of private benefit into an opportunity to help others. To give an example, the last 4th of July, in occasion of an Independence Day celebration, we collected more than 500 kg of angus hamburger in excess that were distributed to a refugees shelter close to the event. The day after more than 800 people were fed thanks to our action, with a superb source of protein and energy. Without us that very 500 kg of food would have been trashed, generating pollution and almost 1 ton of Co2.

Impact: What is the impact of the work to date? Also describe the projected future impact for the coming years.

In less than two years we participated to 250 events saving around 120.000 meals distributed to shelters and homeless and feeding around 40.000 people. These are the results of just one recent organization active in just two cities in the word: Rome and Milan. Only taking into consideration the meeting industry, in 2013 around 45.000 international meetings took place in Europe (ECM data), while single countries as Germany hosts around 3 million events with an average of 100 guests (IMEX Frankfurt). If food excess collection became a usual habits of the event industry, just considering one country we could be saving 600.000.000 meals annually (200 meals per event) reducing drastically hunger and food insecurity, and avoiding around 120.000.000 kg of trash. Multiplying these results by the numbers of events in the world the impact is just amazing!

Spread Strategies: Moving forward, what are the main strategies for scaling impact?

Equoevento is about to start its activity in Turin and in two other countries: Spain and Ecuador. We are always looking for enthusiast and active young entrepreneurs to start Equoevento in other cities, franchising our efficient and organized method to fight food waste at events. We train members of new teams around the world and assist them delivering an efficient and professional service. Together with them we create an international network to coordinate our strategy and activity.
Sustainability

Financial Sustainability Plan: What is this solution’s plan to ensure financial sustainability?

Events organisers are concerned about preventing any negative impact on the environment and want to turn their events into "Equo-events". Creating a strong brand we can now rely on donations from events organisers to cover all the costs connected to the service, which are extremely low compared to the expenses of events' organisation and give a great return on reputation to events' organisers during their moment of major visibility.

Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?

There are many organizations fighting against food waste, especially with EXPO2015, but Equoevento is different because it chose to target the events’ industry. Excess food produced at events is delicious and nutritious but also extremely perishable. For this reason it needs to be immediately distributed to shelters and this requires a very complex organization and logistic. Events are also moments of extreme visibility and communication. Through Equoevento, companies and private parties can gain a great return on reputation, improve their CSR strategies and positively impress their guests.
Team

Founding Story

The idea of Equoevento came up during a wedding: I happened to stop in front of the kitchen and see a waiter trashing an entire tray of the most delicious truffle risotto I ever had. I never realized the amount of waste related to events. Together with three other inspired entrepreneurs we decided to do something to change the situation: some months later Equoevento was born.

Team

Giulia Proietti, co-founder and President of Equoevento. Lawyer admitted to the Florida and Italian Bar -Ph.D. candidate in Commercial Law and Economics at the University La Sapienza. Carlo De Sanctis, co-founder and Treasurer. Architect and director of an engineering firm. Francesco Colicci, co-founder and Secretary. Lawyer admitted to the Italian and Spanish Bar. Giovanni Spatola, co-founder and Web developer. Web Marketing Manager and Advisor.
Background
Please confirm how you heard about the Unilever Awards:

E-mail

Please confirm your role in the initiative (eg Founder/co-Founder) and your organisational title:

President and co-founder

Which of the 8 UN Global Goals (Sustainable Development Goals) pre-selected for this competition does your solution relate most closely to? [select all that apply]

No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Responsible Consumption and Production.

Leadership and the Unilever Awards
Please provide examples of any previous entrepreneurial initiatives you have pioneered.

In 2009 I had been the first person selected for a Double Degree Program between my Italian University and a US Law School where I graduated with summa cum laude, being awarded 8 book awards.
In 2011, after living abroad for three years, I founded Customized Rome, an organization aimed to inform tourists and visitors about local art initiative and events. The association was quite successful and allowed me to get to know better the cultural and artistic scene of my city.
Also thanks to this adventure, in 2014 I was among the first grantees of the European fund “Torno Subito” with a project based in San Francisco and in Rome for one of the most prestigious Italian Art Institution. During the project I could study fund-raising strategies and Non Profit legislation, applying them for Equoevento's growth.

Beyond your existing team, who else are you working with to achieve your objectives, eg partners, advisors, mentors?

Equoevento could count from its beginning on important and prestigious partners such as Hilton, the Olympic Stadium, the US Embassy, Bosch and the A.S. Roma football team, just to mention a few. In less than two years more than 200 realities asked us to participate at their events. On top of this, almost 80 volunteers from Rome, Milan and Turin joined the project to help us fighting food waste, contributing both with their professional skills and with their time and energy to collect food excess.

File attachments: 
PDF icon equoevento_pitch_.compressed.pdf