Hellmann's Declares a New Holiday, Sick of Food Waste Day, and Encourages Fans to Fight Food Waste the Monday after the Big Game

Anyone can participate in #SickofFoodWasteDay, Created to Fight Food Waste by Repurposing and Eating Game Day Leftovers

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., Feb. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Monday after the Big Game is known for being a major “sick” day, with 16+ million people estimated to call in “sick” from work this year. So, this Monday, Feb. 12, Hellmann's is inviting everyone, including those not going to work, to work at fighting food waste by closing their laptop and opening the fridge. Simply put, Hellmann's is sick… of food waste.

The #1 selling mayonnaise brand is declaring a new holiday the day after the Big Game: Sick of Food Waste Day. Every fan who posts to TikTok or Instagram Reels tagging @hellmannsmayonnaise, #SickOfFoodWasteDay and #Sweepstakes on Sick of Food Waste Day has the chance to win a trip to New Orleans this time next year*. The lucky winner will also help next year's Big Game food recovery efforts alongside Hellmann's partner, Food Recovery Network (FRN), one of the largest student-led movements fighting food waste to end hunger in America. 

The Big Game is one of the largest food waste occasions of the year, with over 140K pounds of extra food Big Game and official events alone – and that doesn't even factor in the massive watch parties at home, bars or restaurants. That's why Hellmann's Mayonnaise, a brand committed to inspiring and making it convenient for people to "Make Taste, Not Waste," is inspiring customers to reimagine mouthwatering dishes out of their leftovers, simply with the help of a dollop of mayo. 

This year, the brand is further doubling down on its dedication to food waste reduction through its $100,000 donation to Food Recovery Network. FRN and Hellmann's will be on the ground in Las Vegas on Sunday, Feb. 11 to rescue surplus food from the Player's Tailgate and donate it to The Just One Project, a local organization working to end the cycle of hunger and provide food to people in southern Nevada. Last year in Glendale, AZ, Food Recovery Network diverted 2,907 pounds of perfectly good and delicious food, the equivalent of 2,423 meals, into the hands of those who need it, just a small portion of the 10,000 pounds of food the organization has recovered over the past three years in partnership with Bullseye Event Group.

"We are thrilled to partner with Hellmann's to fight food waste and support those who don't have enough food to eat," says Regina Anderson, Executive Director, Food Recovery Network." 44 million people are unnecessarily facing food insecurity right now while more than 42 million tons of food goes to waste each year. Fighting food waste can happen at large events like this and in lots of other locations like our schools, our conferences, and our homes. We all have the power to ensure perfectly good food doesn't go to waste, and we are excited to work with Hellmann's – a name everyone knows – to ensure everyone understands how critical an issue food waste is and the small, simple actions you can take to make a difference." 

"We are proud of our partnership with Food Recovery Network as we continue our commitment to help educate and inspire people to fight food waste in their own homes, whether that's the day after the Big Game or throughout the year," says Chris Symmes, Senior Marketing Director, Dressings at Unilever North America. "Our work to encourage awareness for reducing post event food waste, by inventing new 'holidays' or helping people creating delicious recipes with leftovers, underscores our vision for a more sustainable future."

The Sick of Food Waste Day initiative is the latest demonstration of Hellmann's long-term commitment to champion and invest in programs, partnerships, and policy advocacy to make fighting food waste convenient, so it never makes it to a landfill.

Visit Hellmann's Sick of Food Waste Day site for recipes to inspire your post-game day eats and to learn more about Hellmann's initiative.

*NO PURCH NEC. 50 US & DC, 18+. Ends 3/12. Rules: https://www.hellmanns.com/us/en/sofw-day-sweepstakes-rules.html

About Hellmann's
Hellmann's is committed to helping people enjoy great tasting good for the simple pleasure it is, without worry or waste. For over a century, the brand has helped people turn even the simplest ingredients into delicious meals. Hellmann's believes in the power of taste, because when food tastes good, less of it gets wasted. This belief has driven Hellmann's to be a force for positive behavior change around household food waste. Hellmann's partnered with experts to conduct one of the longest and largest consumer behavior studies on household food waste working with 2,000 families in the US and Canada gathering insights to help consumers better use the food they already have at home and to waste less. Hellmann's will continue to champion household food waste reduction through its "Make Taste Not Waste" campaigns, inspiring people to turn their left-behinds into easy, tasty meals. The past year alone, Hellmann's has been able to inspire more than 200 million people across the US, Canada and the UK.

About Unilever North America
Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods & Refreshment products, with sales in over 190 countries and products used by 3.4 billion people every day. We have 148,000 employees and generated sales of €52.4 billion in 2021. Over half of our footprint is in developing and emerging markets. We have around 400 brands found in homes all over the world – including iconic brands like Dove, Knorr, Hellmann's, Magnum, Axe, Ben & Jerry's, Degree, Seventh Generation, St. Ives, TRESemmé, and Vaseline.

Our vision is to be the global leader in sustainable business and to demonstrate how our purpose-led, future-fit business model drives superior performance. We have a long tradition of being a progressive, responsible business. It goes back to the days of our founder William Lever, who launched the world's first purposeful brand, Sunlight Soap, more than 100 years ago, and it's at the heart of how we run our company today.

The Unilever Compass, our sustainable business strategy, is set out to help us deliver superior performance and drive sustainable and responsible growth, while:

— improving the health of the planet;
— improving people's health, confidence and wellbeing; and
— contributing to a fairer and more socially inclusive world.

While there is still more to do, in the past year we're proud to have achieved sector leadership in S&P's Dow Jones Sustainability Index, 'Triple A' status in CDP's Climate, Water and Forest benchmarks, and to be named as the top ranked company in the GlobeScan/SustainAbility Sustainability Leaders survey for the eleventh consecutive year.

For more information on Unilever U.S. and its brands visit: www.unileverusa.com

About Food Recovery Network
Food Recovery Network (FRN) is a national nonprofit that mobilizes 6,000 college students, food providers, and local businesses in the fight against climate change and hunger by recovering perishable food across the supply chain that would otherwise go to waste and donating it to organizations that feed people experiencing hunger. As one of the largest student-driven movements against food waste and hunger, FRN's programs are on 192 college campuses and 103 food businesses in 46 states and D.C., and they have recovered more than 16.3 million pounds of food to date – the equivalent of 13.6 million meals donated to feed individuals experiencing hunger and 7,200 metric tons of CO2 emissions prevented from entering our atmosphere.

Media Contact: 
Heather Felix | Edelman
[email protected]

SOURCE Hellmann's