Lotus’s Malaysia and Mutiara Food Bank have launched Kempen Semeja Harapan, a campaign that brings surplus food recovery, public donations and community distribution under one platform in Penang. The launch took place at Lotus’s Sungai Dua outlet, with a proposed rollout across seven Lotus’s stores in the state.
State social development, welfare and non-Islamic religious affairs committee chairman Lim Siew Khim said 11,105 households in Penang remained listed as poor under the eKasih database as of 30 September, according to Pocket News. The state recorded no registered hardcore poor households on the same date.
Lim said poverty figures move as households gain work or lose income, so zero hardcore poverty does not mean the work is finished. Mutiara Food Bank reaches communities in all 40 state constituencies, and the state wants closer cooperation with federal coordination agencies to identify families registered under eKasih, the Citizens Journal noted.
Under the campaign, branded Semeja Harapan donation points will be placed at participating Lotus’s stores so shoppers can leave shelf-stable food and essential items for collection. Mutiara Food Bank will coordinate collection and distribution, engage beneficiaries and report on the campaign’s impact, while Lotus’s Malaysia serves as its first strategic partner.
Lotus’s executive director of corporate services Azliza Baizura Azmel said the retailer had redirected 2.421 million kilograms of food from landfills to more than 120,000 families since 2016. The partnership with Mutiara Food Bank dates to 2017, when the food bank was set up as a Penang state initiative to recover safe, edible surplus food.
Mutiara Food Bank chief operating officer Damien Foong said each kilogramme of rescued food was a chance to place it on the table of someone who needed it. The food bank has recovered and redistributed more than 2,000 tonnes of surplus food since it began, drawing on supermarkets, wholesale markets and corporate donors.
The campaign carries the message “Lebihan Dikongsi, Harapan Disemai”, which asks the public to share surplus and plant hope. Existing recovery work with the food bank involves Lotus’s Bagan Ajam and Lotus’s Bukit Mertajam, alongside Lotus’s Kulim, and the new donation points will be added in stages. The launch was held alongside Lotus’s HORECA Day at the Sungai Dua store, bringing the campaign to customers and business partners.
Organisers intend Semeja Harapan to grow into a broader state platform that draws in more corporate and community partners. The programme will track food recovered, donations received and beneficiaries reached as it develops, giving a clearer picture of where the assistance lands.
