DBS Bank India partners with Social Alpha to find innovative solutions to tackle food loss and wastage

• An estimated 50 kg of household food is wasted per person per year in India*.
• Program highlights DBS' ongoing initiative Towards Zero Food Waste (TZFW)
• The joint initiative with Social Alpha - 'Techtonic Innovations Towards Zero Food Waste' supports innovative technologies and solutions to combat food loss and food waste.

MUMBAI, India, April 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- DBS Bank India today announced its partnership with Social Alpha, a popular innovation curation & venture development platform for tech start-ups, to address the global issue of food waste through sustainable solutions. The partnership furthers DBS' commitment to supporting entrepreneurial efforts toward addressing productivity and supply chain efficiency issues, leading to food waste and value erosion in the food and Agri sector.

Nearly 40% of food produced in India is lost before it reaches the markets and further wasted at the retailer level, which decreases the nutritional security and causes income losses for farmers. Moreover, an estimated 50 kg per capita of household food waste is recorded, totalling 68M tonnes a year.

Techtonic Innovations Towards Zero Food Waste, presented by DBS and powered by Social Alpha, is a two-year program that identifies innovative and scalable solutions by entrepreneurs to help reduce quantitative and qualitative food loss and waste across food systems and agri-food value chains. Under this engagement, selected start-ups will receive grant support to develop their product and marketing strategy, receive branding support, access to grassroots partnerships, and pitch for seed capital. Social enterprises seeking more information and willing to apply can visit https://www.socialalpha.org/techtonic-innovations-towards-zero-food-waste/

Commenting on the partnership, Shoma Narayanan, Managing Director - Group Strategic Marketing & Communications at DBS Bank India, said, "About one-third of the world's food is lost or wasted each year. This is enough to feed three billion people. DBS is committed to changing the way food production and consumption is viewed, and our partnership with Social Alpha is a significant step towards addressing the problem of food waste through sustainable solutions."

Innovations along the entire food value chain are necessary to reduce food loss and food waste, thereby positively impacting livelihood, economy, and climate. Supporting socially impactful innovations with investment can significantly drive change towards creating a better future.

Nikhita Nadkarni, Director and Principal, Livelihoods & Prosperity at Social Alpha, said, "The post-harvest infrastructure currently available for smallholder farmers is insufficient and inaccessible, leading to massive food waste and income loss for farmers. We believe that there is an opportunity to solve this problem through technological innovations and entrepreneurship. We are excited about our partnerships with DBS Bank in accelerating the efforts toward zero food waste. Through the Techtonic, DBS and Social Alpha will scout for 5 high-impact, mission-driven start-ups and provide them venture acceleration support to reach scale and create impact."

DBS works with clients to provide financing solutions to support sustainable supply chains in the Agri sector, reducing wastage for suppliers and processors. It recently partnered with Stellapps, a tech start-up, to provide farmers with access to finance for the digitisation of small dairies across India. 

Towards Zero Food Waste (TZFW)

DBS believes that businesses have a role to play in helping to find solutions to challenges such as food waste. As part of the bank's commitment to a sustainable and climate-resilient future, they initiated a regional movement in 2020 to galvanise multiple stakeholders into action towards zero food waste, thereby creating collective impact. This DBS-led initiative has generated more than 600,000 kg of food impact across Asia (such as reduced food waste and recycled or food redistributed) as of 2021.

DBS' approach to the TZFW initiative aligns with DBS' three sustainability pillars, Responsible Banking, Responsible Business Practices, and Creating Social Impact, whereby they aim to encourage a shift in behaviours and mindsets to reduce food waste by 1) advocating and building public awareness of issue 2) engaging employees and reducing food waste in business operations; and 3) partnering ecosystem partners to scale impact.

Find out more about how one can create an impact in their daily lives. Together, we can Live more, Waste less for a better world!

*As per a report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations 

About DBS

DBS is a leading financial services group in Asia with 18 markets. Recognised for its global leadership, DBS has been named "World's Best Bank" by Euromoney, "Global Banks of the Year" by The Banker, and "Best Bank in the World" by Global Finance. The bank is at the forefront of leveraging digital technology to shape the future of banking, having been named "World's Best Digital Bank" by Euromoney and the world's "Most Innovative in Digital Banking" by The Banker. In addition, DBS has been accorded the "Safest Bank in Asia" award by Global Finance for 13 consecutive years from 2009 to 2021. DBS was also ranked No. 1 on Forbes' list of the World's Best Banks in India for two consecutive years. 

DBS Bank has been present in India for 28 years, opening its first office in Mumbai in 1994. DBS Bank India Limited is the first among the large foreign banks in India to start operating as a wholly-owned, locally incorporated subsidiary of a leading global bank. DBS provides an entire range of banking services for large, medium, and small enterprises and individual consumers in India. In 2016, DBS launched India's first mobile-only bank, digibank, with ~1 million savings accounts. In November 2020, Lakshmi Vilas Bank was amalgamated with DBS Bank India Limited. The bank now has a network of nearly 600 branches across 19 states in India.

DBS provides a full range of consumer, SME, and corporate banking services. As a bank born and bred in Asia, DBS understands the intricacies of doing business in the region's most dynamic markets. DBS is committed to building lasting relationships with customers and positively impacting communities through supporting social enterprises, as it banks the Asian way. It has also established an SGD 50 million foundation to strengthen its corporate social responsibility efforts in Singapore and Asia. In 2020, DBS introduced the "Towards Zero Food Waste" initiative as part of a global sustainability practice to encourage a shift in behaviours and mindsets to reduce food waste. 

With its extensive network of operations in Asia and emphasis on engaging and empowering its staff, DBS presents exciting career opportunities. The bank acknowledges the passion, commitment, and can-do spirit in all our 30,000+ staff representing over 40 nationalities. For more information, please visit www.dbs.com. 

About Social Alpha

Social Alpha is a multistage innovation curation and venture development platform for science and technology start-ups that address the most critical social, economic, and environmental challenges through the power of entrepreneurship and market-creating innovations. Since its inception in 2016, Social Alpha has supported more than 200+ start-ups, including 60+ seed investments.

For more information, please visit www.socialalpha.org.