Activities in 16 communities across Bangkok, Phuket, Phang Nga, and Pattaya use hotels’ surplus food to feed disadvantaged local people, as part of efforts to alleviate hunger and reduce food waste
Bangkok, Thailand – Marriott International has marked World Food Day 2024 with a series of highly important community activities to promote sustainable food production and combat hunger in Thailand, all in collaboration with its long-term charitable partner, Scholars of Sustenance Foundation (SOS Thailand).
Created by the United Nations, World Food Day falls annually on October 16th with the goal of eradicating global hunger by 2030. Contributing to this occasion, the associates at Marriott’s properties in Bangkok, Phuket, Phang Nga, and Pattaya joined forces with SOS Thailand to provide meals to underprivileged local people, including children, while also reducing food waste and CO2 emissions.
In Bangkok, 19 of the group’s hotels staged a series of major food distribution events across the Thai capital on October 28th. Surplus food from the hotels’ kitchens and restaurants was donated to SOS Thailand, which transformed it into 2,000 delicious meals. These were then given to residents in underprivileged urban areas, including Chumchon Khlongtoei, Soi Phra Chen, Bon Kai, and Soi Khua Phrik.
In Southern Thailand, Marriott’s hotels and resorts in Phuket and Phang Nga came together with SOS Thailand for a significant event at Courtyard by Marriott Phuket Town. Surplus food from 14 properties was used to craft 3,000 meals, which were then distributed by SOS Thailand in seven separate activities across Phuket including Vichit Municipality, Rassada Municipality, Nakorn Municipality, Behind the Auditorium Community, Kathu Municipality, Chalong Subdistrict, and Koh Kaew Subdistrict.
The World Food Day activities continued in November 2024, as Courtyard by Marriott North Pattaya worked with SOS Thailand to prepare 140 meals for young people in Chonburi, in collaboration with the province’s Department of Juvenile Observation & Protection.
“We are delighted to come together with SOS Thailand, our charitable partner, to provide over 5,000 meals for underprivileged people, including children, in Thailand. Despite progress, malnutrition still affects some communities, and through our Serve360 program, Marriott is fully committed to supporting the goals of World Food Day by helping to alleviate hunger wherever we operate. I would like to thank all our associates and friends at SOS Thailand for their efforts in staging these impactful events,” said Daryn Hudson, Co-Chair of Marriott’s International Business Councils Thailand and General Manager at Four Points by Sheraton Phuket Patong Beach Resort.
The World Food Day initiatives are only one aspect of Marriott International’s partnership with SOS Thailand. So far in 2024, the group’s hotels and resorts in Thailand have donated more than 21,606kg of surplus food to SOS, which used these ingredients to create 90,749 meals for local communities.
For more information about Marriott’s Serve360 program, please visit serve360.marriott.com.
