Bob Evans Farms and Michael Foods Donating Meal Kits to 15,000 Families in 10 States
ST. LOUIS, April 10, 2020 — Bob Evans Farms and Michael Foods, both part of Post Holdings, are responding to the increased need for food donations due to COVID-19 in the communities where they have manufacturing facilities.
The companies have donated egg and potato meal kits to food banks in a variety of communities, and also contributed food packages for their employees and immediate families. Donation events are continuing to be scheduled in the next two weeks and it is estimated the meal kits will reach more than 15,000 families in 10 states.
The meal kits contain a range of products from both Bob Evans Farms and Michael Foods, including mashed potatoes, peeled hard cooked eggs, egg whites, peeled russet diced potatoes, shredded potatoes and Papetti’s liquid eggs. Along with the products, each kit contains recipes and nutritional facts to help families prepare meals.
Many news organizations covered the drive through food donation events where employees, spaced six feet apart, placed the kits in people’s trunks. In Des Moines, TV station KCCI covered the Michael Foods donations in progress, held at Orchard Hills Elementary School in Norwalk, Iowa. In Texas, the Sulphur Springs News-Telegram publicized the Bob Evans Farms donation drive through event, which was expected to feed 2,400 families prior to the Easter holiday weekend. “It has been a quite a labor of love to organize this donation on Good Friday,” said Lezley Brown of the Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce in Sulphur Springs. In the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, donations are being made regularly to Hope Breakfast Bar, a restaurant in St. Paul, MN that evolved into a community kitchen for those in need after closing their dining room due to COVID-19. Hope Breakfast Bar is feeding 10,000 needy families across the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.
“The feedback from organizations that received our donations has simply been overwhelming,” said Steve Schonohoff, Senior Vice President, Integrated Supply Chain. “There is a profound sense of appreciation that truly speaks to who we are as an organization.”
Across the operating companies of Post Holdings, charitable efforts have amplified. Post Consumer Brands, headquartered in Lakeville, MN, made both cereal and financial donations to local food banks and in St. Louis, the headquarters city of Post Holdings, a donation was made to Operation Food Search, a service that feeds 200,000 people each month and is now additionally providing emergency food packs to those in need.
Photos L-R:
- Chaska, MN : Employees load food kits into cars at the drive-through donation center.
- Norwalk, IA: In partnership with city officials and the Norwalk Chamber of Commerce, meal kits were safely loaded into recipient’s trunks during a drive-through event.
- Minneapolis: Brian Ingram, chef and owner of Hope Breakfast Bar and Dave Jordan, operations director of Michael Foods pose by the organization’s food truck. Regular donations of potatoes and egg products are helping Hope Breakfast Bar continue their mission to feed those in need.
ABOUT BOB EVANS FARMS, INC.
Bob Evans Farms, Inc. is a brand born and raised on the promise of farm-fresh goodness. For more than 70 years, the company has been making delicious, quick-to-table farm-fresh food that is sold in grocery stores all over the country. Today, Bob Evans brand mashed potatoes and macaroni & cheese products are the #1 selling refrigerated side dishes in the United States*. Based in Columbus, Ohio and owned by Post Holdings, Inc., a consumer packaged goods holding company operating in the center-of-the-store, refrigerated, foodservice, food ingredient, and active nutrition food categories. Bob Evans Farms is also a leading producer and distributor in multiple categories including, eggs, refrigerated potato, pasta, pork sausage, and a variety of refrigerated and frozen convenience food items under the Bob Evans, Owens and Pineland Farms brand names. For more information about Bob Evans Farms, Inc., visit bobevansgrocery.com.
*Source: IRI Scan Sales Data Total U.S. 52 Weeks Ending 12/29/19.
ABOUT MICHAEL FOODS
Michael Foods Inc., based in Minnetonka, MN, is a producer, marketer and distributor of food products to the foodservice, food ingredient and retail markets. Its principal products are specialty egg products, refrigerated potato products, pork sausage and a variety of sides. For more information, visit the Michael Foods website at michaelfoods.com.
ABOUT POST HOLDINGS
Post Holdings, Inc., headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, is a consumer packaged goods holding company operating in the center-of-the-store, refrigerated, foodservice, food ingredient and convenient nutrition food categories. Through its Post Consumer Brands business, Post is a leader in the North American ready-to-eat cereal category offering a broad portfolio including recognized brands such as Honey Bunches of Oats®, Pebbles™, Great Grains® and Malt-O-Meal® bag cereal. Post also is a leader in the United Kingdom ready-to-eat cereal category with the iconic Weetabix® brand. As a leader in refrigerated foods, Post delivers innovative, value-added egg and refrigerated potato products to the foodservice channel and the retail refrigerated side dish category, offering side dishes and egg, sausage and cheese products through the Bob Evans®, Simply Potatoes®, Better’n Eggs® and Crystal Farms® brands. Post’s publicly traded subsidiary BellRing Brands, Inc. is a holding company operating in the global convenient nutrition category through its primary brands of Premier Protein®, Dymatize® and PowerBar®. Post participates in the private brand food category through its investment with third parties in 8th Avenue Food & Provisions, Inc., a leading, private brand centric, consumer products holding company. For more information, visit postholdings.com.