A GROUP of volunteers called Fife Food Group has come up with a new solution to get food to hard-pressed local foodbanks during the coronavirus outbreak and a Ballingry company is helping them.

The panic buying, which left empty supermarket shelves, saw a dramatic drop off in foodbank donations.

Two weeks ago, members of Phoenix Fife Business Referrals group and Dunfermline Toastmasters started to try and find an alternative way of getting vital supplies to Kirkcaldy Foodbank.

Leading the Fife Food Group is Sam Forsberg, of ActionCOACH, who, together with the help of catering company Garraffo Catering Solutions, started to try and source a supply of food using catering contacts. Before offering to help the foodbanks the catering company had been investigating cooking takeaway meals for families from Putter’s House Bistro at Glenrothes Golf Club when the Bistro’s public opening was delayed.

Sam said: “Thanks to Garraffo Catering Solutions we made a start by finding essentials at wholesale prices. We started with five or six members in the group and now there’s 12 of us.

"Between us we have invested over £550 at wholesale prices during the last two weeks. The volunteers at Kirkcaldy Foodbank were really helpful; they confirmed that they could divide up the bulk quantities for distribution. The first week we did one delivery but last week, we couldn’t fit everything into the car so we did two deliveries.”

He added: “Ivan Wood & Son, the family-run business based in Ballingry, is giving us a really good price for the fruit and vegetables he’s supplying. He’s topping up our orders with his own contribution too. Another business – Headshots Scotland also donated Hey Girls sanitary products as well".

The Group believe the system could really help other foodbanks in Fife and is keen to support people interested in forming their own group to supply their local foodbank. There has already been interest in doing something similar for Dunfermline Foodbank, which supplies the Cowdenbeath and Benarty operations.