Alliances that Transcend, we spoke with Alicia Guevara, Founder of Banco de Alimentos Quito.

Our latest initiative was an IG LIVE developed between our Executive Chef, Andrea López, and Chef Romina Rueda from the GQB Culinary School, through which children from BAQ's partner foundations connected and learned recipes for desserts and cookies that they can enjoy using the chocolate we have donated. Learn more about this digital event and our work with BAQ in recent years in the following interview with Alicia Guevara, its founder.

Please tell us about yourself, what inspires you in life and what do you work for at Banco de Alimentos Quito?

I am Alicia Guevara, I am the founder of Banco de Alimentos Quito, we have been doing this work for 18 years. As main activity I am a professor at the National Polytechnic School in the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Agroindustry, and I do this BAQ project as a volunteer. A small project that has been growing a lot, at the beginning we served 200 people, now we serve more than 50,000 people per month. I am inspired by the desire to help, I believe that we all have not only the need, but the obligation to do what is in our hands to help people who have less.

What programs does the BAQ currently have and what partners does it work with?

In general, what we food banks do is to avoid wasting food from different sources, companies, distribution centers, retailers. This food is collected, selected with the help of volunteers, once this food is ready, it is distributed to organizations, then we generate reports and data on the donations we have received. We work with about 60 companies that make donations, sometimes every week, sometimes once a month, sometimes once a year, different companies that donate us these products, among these one of the most important is República del Cacao and there are also traders, businessmen of the food sector that help us in this purpose.

What objectives would you like to achieve with the alliance you currently have with República del Cacao?

Chocolate is a product to which our beneficiaries, who are of very limited resources, do not have access, but on the other hand we know that chocolate is a product that brings joy wherever it goes, to anyone you say "do you want chocolate", a smile appears on their lips, and even to children, you give them chocolate and they are very happy. So to be able to give them access to a food that they do not have access to, for us that is a great joy, and now with what República del Cacao is doing, which is not only delivering a product and disengaging itself, but it is transmitting knowledge, showing the organizations that they are not only important to deliver the product, but that they also want to get closer to them, giving them knowledge, that is fabulous for us. A big thank you for this connection that you have with the people, it gives them the importance that they really have and we are very grateful for that.

What do you think of the initiatives that have been developed so far with República del Cacao?

Something I really like about República del Cacao is that it is an organization full of life, they don't stay with just one idea, they are always looking to innovate, they are always looking for different ways to help. Last year there were talks, chocolate handling courses, and now this, an IG LIVE for all the organizations to participate, it is very good for us because it is not just the same thing, you are always reinventing yourselves, looking for ways to help, so I am very grateful again.

What are the future projects for the BAQ, and what specific projects arose during the pandemic?

We as a Food Bank did not stop for a single day during the pandemic; rather, if there was one good thing about the pandemic, we could say that it gave us visibility, because it was understood that food is a resource and that circumstances like these can happen that were absolutely unforeseen and that suddenly access to food is lost. So during the pandemic, our main intention was to cover more areas where we can help, try to save more food and serve many, many more people. For example, we are currently launching the "ReAgro" project, which is the recovery of food in the agricultural sector, because 30% of the products do not even leave the farm, for aesthetic reasons, due to overproduction, etc. So now we are going to that sector to recover food from that area, and as the BAQ was born within the National Polytechnic School, we are currently providing technical assistance, we started the project in March, and we are not only going to ask farmers for food, but also help them with technical assistance in soil analysis and fertilization recommendations, and expanding, trying to serve more people each time.

What is your opinion regarding this dynamic in which the children of your beneficiary foundations have now been included?

Hermosisímo! Because just by telling them that you donated more chocolate than we usually have, therefore, we were able to reach more people, so when we told them that we were going to give them more chocolate for the children to learn, they already wanted to reach their organizations to start distributing, and they were very happy with the LIVE because they wanted to learn. So it was a great idea they had.

With the intention of sharing your voice with society, what message would you give to our audiences of chefs and organizations in the food sector, and customers who consume chocolate?

First, the fact that we can all give something to others, people who eat chocolate, who know how to handle chocolate, can teach, can show what they know, can inform others that there is a lot of food that is wasted and that we can take advantage of it, if we all join hands, If we all join hands, if we let food not be wasted in our own homes, we can reach more people, remember that the food that we are blessed to have every day in our midst, there are people who do not have it, that what is sometimes for us a waste, for others is what they have to consume during the day. So I always tell them that from wherever they are, we have the obligation to do what is in our hands to commit ourselves to help and change a little bit the daily life of the people who do not have what we have.