Gastronomers save 600,000 lives with soup with meaning!

Gastronomers save 600,000 lives with soup with meaning!

Winter has not only brought cold for many people in Austria, but also social challenges. With the winter donation campaign "Hot soup against social cold", which has been carried out since 2007, restaurateurs: Inside and soup casualties: Inside, there is a way to tackle the growing need of people affected by poverty. This year, more than 150 restaurants will donate one euro per soup sold to the Tafel Austria. This has caused this action to provide 600,000 soups in the previous year represent.

This initiative aims to not only save food, but also to ensure the free care of people in social institutions. During the last campaign period from November 2023 to February 2024, 42,000 "soups with meaning" were sold, which enabled the Tafel Austria to provide around 420,000 soups for people in need, reports the Tafel Austria .

increasing demand and support

Alexandra Gruber, managing director of Tafel Austria, highlights the increased need for food aid. "Especially the people who are already in financial need are affected," she explains. The support of long-year-old catering operations such as the Café-Restaurant Hummel and the Vestibül restaurant in the Burgtheater is of central importance.

This year, new participants such as the Gasthof Blasl and the Hotel-Restaurant Friesacherhof have also been added, which further increases the reach and effect of the campaign. The initiative receives prominent support from the actress Konstanze Breitbner, who has been an ambassador for almost 15 years. The next action period "Soup with Sinn" begins on November 1, 2025.

food rescue and social justice

The Tafel Austria has established itself as a leading organization for food rescue since its foundation in 1999. Every year it distributes thousands of tons of food to those that they urgently need. In 2024, a total of 1,578 tons of food were distributed to 75,000 people in around 160 social institutions. The need for this help grows, especially in times of economic uncertainty.

Another project of the table is the "Tafelbox 2.0", which offers a sustainable solution for food waste. This box enables restaurants to sell remaining dishes to guests, which creates a win-win situation. Over 200,000 of these boxes have already been sold, which corresponds to more than 100 tons of saved food. The "Tafelbox" is offered not only in the gastronomy, but also via the myproduct.at portal for private customers, so that everyone can actively contribute to food rescue. The Tafel Austria remains dependent on money, time and goods donations in order to continue to be able to help in this challenging time.