The Greater Vancouver Food Bank and TransLink
Put Surplus Fruit to Work
Burnaby, BC, Thursday August 27th: The Greater Vancouver Food Bank (GVFB) and TransLink have launched a new vending machine pilot at Patterson and Joyce–Collingwood SkyTrain stations, offering commuters healthy juice and nutritious freeze-dried fruit snacks produced by the GVFB. The pilot could create opportunities for the GVFB to expand to additional transit hubs in the future.
The products are made through the GVFB’s growing food preservation program. Using methods such as juicing and freeze-drying, the organization extends the shelf life of surplus fresh food and makes nutritious products available throughout the year. The process can begin with a single bin of apples. A typical 750-pound bin can yield approximately 238 litres of juice. Under the GVFB’s social enterprise model, the majority of preserved food is intended for clients and communities in need, while a smaller portion is sold through initiatives such as the new vending machines.
All proceeds from vending machine sales are reinvested directly in GVFB operations, helping the organization preserve and distribute more food and reach more people.
Across Canada, too much edible food never reaches the people who need it. The GVFB believes better infrastructure, preservation and distribution can help close that gap. Working with farmers and food producers, the organization is building a system that makes better use of the abundance already available in British Columbia. Greater capacity to receive, store, process and transport surplus fresh food will help more of it reach people.
“There is no shortage of food, just a distribution problem. These vending machines aren’t about generating revenue for revenue’s sake. They are another way to make the broken food system work better,” says David Long, CEO,
Greater Vancouver Food Bank.
“We can preserve surplus fresh food, make nutritious products available to the public
and reinvest the proceeds to move more food and feed more people. It creates a circle: abundance becomes nutritious food, and the value generated comes back to support our communities. That is the kind of food system we
want to build.”
The partnership brings products from the GVFB’s food preservation program into a highly visible public setting. In 2025 TransLink customers made 237.6 million transit journeys. Joyce–Collingwood, one of the pilot’s first two locations, recorded nearly five million boardings and ranked seventh among TransLink’s SkyTrain stations.
“Transit is part of the communities we serve every day, and this partnership is another way we can use our system to give back,” says TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn. “By bringing these vending machines into our stations, we’re making it easy for customers to support the Greater Vancouver Food Bank as part of their everyday journey, with every purchase helping provide fresh food to people and families across the region.”
To mark the launch, commuters at Patterson SkyTrain Station sampled products from the new machines and learned how food preservation helps the GVFB make better use of surplus fresh food. The morning event also showed how each purchase supports the Food Bank’s wider mission.
The pilot is one part of the GVFB’s broader food preservation strategy. As the program grows, the organization aims to preserve more of BC’s surplus fresh food and make nutritious products available year-round. Future opportunities could bring these foods into schools and communities across the province.
With every purchase, commuters help keep that circle moving and support the GVFB’s mission to provide healthy food to more people.
About the Greater Vancouver Food Bank (GVFB):
The Greater Vancouver Food Bank (GVFB) is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing healthy food to people in need. The GVFB supports individuals and families through direct distribution in Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster and the North Shore, as well as through more than 160 agency partners locally and across the province. These partners include neighbourhood houses, community kitchens, after-school programs, transition houses, Indigenous organizations and food banks, helping the GVFB meet a wide range of community needs.
Through this network, the GVFB envisions a British Columbia where everyone has access to healthy food through efficient distribution, innovation and partnerships.
To learn more visit: www.foodbank.bc.ca
About TransLink:
TransLink is Metro Vancouver’s regional transportation authority, responsible for planning, funding, and managing the region’s integrated transportation system. TransLink delivers bus, SkyTrain, SeaBus, West Coast Express, and HandyDART services, while also overseeing major roads and bridges, cycling infrastructure and programs that make it easier for people to walk, cycle, and connect to transit.
Visit translink.ca for more information.
Media Contacts:
GVFB: Tomas Svec, Communications Officer, tomass@foodbank.bc.ca, 778.879.6907
TransLink: TransLink Media Relations, media@translink.ca
