KFC Add Hope Partners with SA Youth, Suppliers to Deliver Three Million Additional Meals in 2026

“In 2026, KFC had to face a very real reality. Hunger is a societal challenge that is too big for one brand alone to solve,” says Andra Nel, KFC Africa people, culture and purpose director.

“And so, through the Biggest Hunger Hack, we were reminded of something Add Hope already knew.”

“When you invite diverse minds to solve a problem together, the solutions are better. More importantly, they work. That’s what Add Hope 2.0 is now demonstrating.

“The growth in Add Hope’s impact is a direct outcome of the Biggest Hunger Hack.

“It is powered by strategic external partnerships, inspired directly by youth solutions that have reduced the cost of feeding, and by digital innovations that are unlocking new sources of donations that help those that need it most.”

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Ideas becoming reality

The ideas from the Biggest Hunger Hack are becoming operational through partnerships supporting Add Hope.

Supplier partnerships — including McCormick, CPT, Digistics, Sun Salt, Nature’s Garden, Unilever, Sovereign Foods, and Afgri — are reducing key ingredient costs, lowering the cost of each meal and extending the reach of Add Hope funding.

Approximately R2.74m in supplier contributions in 2026 have translated into about 955,000 meals.

“Add Hope is now moving from ad hoc contributions towards more targeted and recurring partnerships,” says Nel.

“We have identified the biggest costs in the Add Hope food basket, and we are targeting suppliers who can help reduce them. We have seen overwhelming willingness from these partners to be a part of the solution.”

Central procurement, through partnerships with major retailers, is using collective buying power to drive down the cost of basics for Add Hope feeding partners.

Nel says these partnerships are further reducing costs on key food items, allowing Add Hope funding to stretch further and ultimately give more to those who need it most.

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The future of food security

Surplus food recovery through FoodForward SA supplements traditionally procured food with top-quality farm, retail, and restaurant contributions, adding to meals for vulnerable children while reducing Add Hope’s food bill by 14%.

Nel says this is a direct outcome of the hackathon, where the winning team developed a prototype app to rescue surplus produce from farms – some of the 10 million tonnes of food that goes to waste every year, according to WWF.

FoodForward SA managing director Andy Du Plessis says connecting its national surplus food recovery network to Add Hope’s feeding infrastructure solves two problems at once.

“We’re diverting good quality food from landfills and using this good food to feed people in vulnerable communities,” he says.

“This partnership shows that solving hunger isn’t about creating new resources; it’s about redirecting the ones we already have.

“That’s the future of food security in South Africa.”

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Three million more

Together, these mechanisms are projected to deliver an additional three million meals in 2026 alone, with a confirmed pathway to scale, proving that collaboration at the design stage translates into scale at implementation.

Digital optimisation from winning hackathon ideas is expected to add another 200,000 meals by bringing donation mechanisms to delivery apps and kiosks and enabling KFC Rewards to transfer to Add Hope.

Mr D prompts have already generated R180,080 from 33,874 transactions since going live in March, and Uber Eats has also recently launched this feature.

“What started as a question to young innovators has become a way of working,” says Nel.

“We are thinking differently about partnerships, about efficiency, and about what’s possible when you treat the entire ecosystem as a resource. That’s the real hack.”

Nel says the Biggest Hunger Hack and the resulting partnerships have transformed Add Hope, but they are just the start.

“More partnerships will mean greater impact, and with more than 17 million people experiencing food insecurity, the need is overwhelming,” she says.

“The point of open-sourcing Add Hope was never to keep the best ideas for ourselves, so we encourage people to read the blueprint and join our mission.

“The message for World Food Day is that we do not necessarily need to invent more resources to fight hunger.

“The Biggest Hunger Hack proved that we can get much smarter about unlocking the resources, food, technology and supply chains that already exist.”