The Food is Here.
The Need is Now.
Kanbe's Markets is proud to be part of local and national efforts to turn food loss into food access. This is the most food-abundant era in human history, yet hunger keeps climbing instead of shrinking. No single solution solves hunger, but together we can find real answers to a problem this complex. It will take all of us.
FRUITS AND VEGETABLES SHOULD FEED PEOPLE FIRST.
Working with wholesale and farm partners, we recover fresh food they can't sell or move in time. It arrives at our warehouse by the thousands of pounds, volumes no single pantry could absorb on its own. There, we sort it and move it to people before it spoils. We don't need to grow more food. We need a better system to move the food that's already here.
WHOLESALE PARTNERS
Our procurement partners C&Cand Liberty Fruit Company find the produce, and then we find it a home.
KANBE’S ROLE
Every pound of fresh food Kanbe's Markets recovers gets sorted and directed toward its highest possible use.
FRESH FOOD ACCESS PARTNERS & HUNGER RELIEF PARTNERS
Grocery-grade produce goes into small corner stores across the Kansas City region. Excess, high-quality but imperfect food goes to pantries.
ANIMAL FEED & COMPOST
Anything that can't go to people goes to animals, and finally to compost.
TOGETHER WE FEED IT ONWARD
Feed It Onward is the EPA's initiative connecting surplus food with the people who can use it, instead of seeing it go to waste. Kanbe's Markets is one of Kansas City's three Feed It Onward partners, alongside KC Can Compost and Pete's Garden. A full list of Feed It Onward organizations can be found on their website.
KANSAS CITY CIRCULAR ORGANICS ECONOMY PLAN
Kansas City is undertaking a citywide organics recovery and food rescue plan to cut food waste at the source. Kanbe's Markets participates as the region's only full-stack perishable logistics operator, moving surplus food from wholesale recovery into neighborhood retail and food pantries. Additionally, Kanbe's Markets serves as the warehouse base for multiple organizations working to make Kansas City's food system more sustainable and resilient.