Factor, a packaged meal delivery service, recently passed a milestone of one million meals donated to the Aurora community by working with local food banks, the company announced Wednesday.
The company will also be donating 10 refrigerated vans to local food banks over the course of 2025, pledged Uwe Voss, who is the CEO of HelloFresh North America, which is Factor’s parent company.
“We really believe at HelloFresh, at Factor, that everyone should have access to healthy and nutritious food to live up to their full potential, and so we use every chance we get to put a spotlight on the issue of food insecurity,” he said during the press conference. “Here in this community, we went one step further, and we wanted to do something about it.”
The company got a head start on its commitment by donating a van to the city of Aurora at a press conference on Wednesday held at the Aurora Factor facility at 2372 W. Indian Trail.
Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin said during the press conference that, with the donation of the van, the city will “establish a regular distribution schedule throughout the community, facilitated by the Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs, beginning this holiday season.
“We look forward to partnering with HelloFresh and Factor to provide regular meals as we work together close with our food pantries and fill those insecurity gaps in our community,” Irvin said.
Diane Letson, Feeding America’s vice president of food industry partnerships, said at the press conference that the donation of the vans will “repeatedly create quick and impactful connections for people facing hunger.” The vans will help maintain “cold chain integrity” for perishable foods, which will keep them safe to eat, she said.
“We are incredibly grateful for the partnership and donation from Factor and HelloFresh,” Letson said.
In addition to donating the vans, Factor will continue to donate to local food banks with the goal of passing two million meals donated in the near future, according to Voss.
Factor partners locally with the Northern Illinois Food Bank, Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry, Loaves & Fishes Community Services, Kendall County Community Food Pantry, Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry and the American Cancer Society, along with a national partnership with Feeding America, he said.
“The importance of the work of food pantries and food banks cannot be overstated in the fight against food insecurity,” Voss said.
Food pantries and banks are important because they allow people in need to access fresh food, and food insecurity in America is primarily an issue of distribution, not production, according to Voss.
He said around 40% of the food that gets produced gets thrown away, so there is enough food to go around, it is just not always going to those who need it the most.
However, Factor does not throw away any edible food, according to Factor’s Senior Director of Sustainability Jeff Yorzyk. Instead, unsold meals and unused ingredients get donated to local food banks, he told The Beacon-News after the press conference.
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