12 Food Brands That Taste Good and Do Good
Updated: Feb. 28, 2024
Make a difference from your kitchen pantry. These food companies are dedicated to improving the world we live in, with missions from environmental sustainability to fighting child hunger.
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King Arthur Flour
This 100% employee-owned flour company is all about giving back to its communities. Each year, every employee is given 40 paid hours to use for volunteer work. King Arthur also funds Bake for Kids, where school children learn the skills and science behind baking and are given the materials to bake two loaves of whole wheat bread, one of which is donated to a local hunger-relief program. And, their MELT grilled cheese competition at their flagship location—appropriately named Camelot—raises funds for a heating assistance program in its community of Norwich, Vermont.
Newman’s Own
Since 1982, Newman’s Own has run its business based on co-founder Paul Newman’s now-famous words when seeing the company’s first year’s profits: “Let’s give it all away to those who need it.” While the company began as a salad dressing enterprise, it now sells everything from pizza to pet food, and 100% of its profits go to charities. Over the years, that amounts to $450 million.
Newman’s Own also has its own projects, like Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, which started in 1988 as a place for children with life-limiting conditions to “raise a little hell” and just be kids. The camp has since evolved into SeriousFun Children’s Network, which is free to attendees and has served more than 730,000 children and families.
Annie’s Homegrown
Rooted in founder Annie Withy’s belief that a business can be socially conscious and successful, this company is known for its delicious mac and cheese, as well as its commitment to giving back. Annie’s has donated over $2.5 million in the last six years to its partnering organizations, like FoodCorps and Feeding America. It also has a grant program for school gardens, and scholarships for college and graduate students studying organic and regenerative agriculture.
Ben and Jerry’s
Since 1985, the ice cream entrepreneurs have set aside 7.5% of pretax profits for philanthropy. Ben and Jerry’s focuses on furthering social justice issues, protecting the environment and promoting sustainable food. In 2015, they gave $2,479,890 in grant money. They primarily focus on grassroots movements, believing that the people most affected by the issue are the ones best qualified to lead the campaign.
Waka Coffee
Waka Coffee does instant coffee differently. The brand uses Arabica beans, the kind of coffee you commonly find in your favorite coffee shop, to produce a premium instant coffee that tastes just as good as traditional brews. What’s even better is that Waka Coffee donates four percent of their profits to clean water charities across the globe. Give it a try and support a good cause yourself.
Fun fact: For a celebrity coffee charity option, Tom Hanks coffee donates all its proceeds to veterans.
Lotus Foods
Lotus Food supplies organic, fair trade and heirloom rice, and is dedicated to supporting their producers and promoting sustainability. Their fair trade practices pay their farmers 30-40% above retail prices. They also have implemented the More Crop Per Drop, which is an organic version of System of Rice Intensification. Through these practices, farmers use 50% less water while also cutting their greenhouse gas emissions. One million farmers have now implemented these eco-friendly practices.
Campbell’s
The Campbell’s Soup Foundation has recently refocused their grant program to promote longevity and sustainability in communities where Campbell operates. They gave over $61.9 million in charitable gifts in 2017, as well as clocking in 12,200 employee volunteer hours. One of their newest initiatives is Just Peachy Salsa, which takes peaches that aren’t able to be sold in grocery stores but are still fit for consumption and turns them into salsa. The program has made over 200,000 jars of Just Peachy salsa, which in turn has generated $300,000 for the Food Bank of South Jersey, funding 600,000 meals.
Good Spread Peanut Butter
This delicious peanut butter company is tackling Severe Acute Malnutrition, which kills more children than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined. Their solution? MANA—it’s a Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food, made from milk and peanut butter, and fortified with vitamins to fight malnutrition. Once administered on a regular basis, 96% of children are cured in less than six weeks. For every jar you buy, the company sends a packet of MANA to a community in need.
Endangered Species Chocolate
Your chocolate addiction is actually good for you, and now it’s good for the environment, too. The Endangered Species Chocolate company donates 10% of its net profits to an endangered species foundation. They’ve given over $1.4 million to organizations like Rainforest Trust and the Wildlife Conservation Network. Plus, their bars are non-GMO, high quality and fair trade.
Committed to being more eco-friendly this year? Check out these ten easy ways to go green in your kitchen.
Numi Tea
The all-organic, all-natural tea company Numi Tea started the H2OPE project after seeing how their turmeric farmers in Madagascar suffered from a lack of a clean water supply. Since the project’s inception, they’ve provided 23 wells across 13 villages in Madagascar, serving 4,000 people. They’ve taken the success of the operation to launch H2OPE in India, working with Women’s Earth Alliance to provide clean, sustainable drinking water to 6,500 people.
Dave’s Killer Bread
Dave’s Killer Bread operates under the motto “Buy a loaf, change a life.” That’s because the company was started to fund Second Chance Employment, which works to reduce the stigma of formerly incarcerated job candidates and to encourage hiring businesses to give these candidates a “second chance.” Of their 300 employees, one in three at Dave’s Killer Bread has faced criminal charges.
Love with Food
Love with Food is a snack-subscription service that delivers out healthy and high-quality snacks. They have paired with Feeding America, and with each box that’s sent out, a meal is donated to a family in need. Since 2012, they’ve donated over one million meals.
Originally Published: January 24, 2019
