With meticulous planning and design, acts of benevolence such as waste reduction and donation can benefit volunteers, beneficiaries and even the environment.

Apart from a continuing devotion to reducing food waste, Maxim’s also brings sustainability elements to community events, forging connections between society and environment, and promoting care in return. One example is the gifting of upcycled products made in waste reduction workshops to the underprivileged. This simple act not only encourages engagement from the volunteers, but becomes an inspiration for more green ideas and provides comfort to the recipients: a perfect example of one action with benefits to multiple stakeholders. 

In July, three workshops were held in cooperation with NGO partner Eco-Greenergy. The sessions spread the knowledge of upcycling coffee grounds to different communities and partners, including Maxim’s employees, corporate partners and VTC students. 

Led by a tutor, participants used coffee grounds and daily tools to create one-of-a-kind products such as tote bags, shawls and small towels, all with dazzling tie-dye patterns. Participants experienced first-hand the possibilities of coffee grounds in their day-to-day lives, changing their perceptions towards food waste. 

Gordon Chan, Sustainability Officer at Jardines, was one of the workshop participants. He was delighted that items made there were to be delivered as gifts to the children at Kiddy Heart Canteen. He hoped the children would be pleased by these hearty gifts and find them useful.

Maxim’s Group co-founded Kiddy Heart Canteen with Baptist Oi Kwan Social Service in 2013, and it has since worked constantly to feed children and families in need. To date, it has provided 230,000 meals at a discounted price of $10. A registered dietitian from Maxim’s ensures that each meal set includes main, vegetable and soup courses to provide balanced nutrition. Anson (alias), one of the beneficiaries exclaimed: “Thank you Maxim’s for this tote bag! I know the colours came from coffee grounds. My mother uses it at home and it is both pretty and practical!” 

Peann Tam, Business Development Director of Eco-Greenergy, shared “These coffee dyeing workshops were held at Maxim’s invitation, and the coffee grounds we used were collected from Starbucks. This hands-on experience for staffs and business partners provided a practical and relevant example of incorporating green concepts into their day-to-day lives”. 

Tam emphasised that the second life of coffee grounds is no longer constrained to fertiliser, but dyeing material for textile products. There are few things more fulfilling than using one’s own hands to transform ‘rubbish’ into something new and useful.

No deed is too small to catalyse change. Memorable experiences that spark awareness of waste reduction and environment protection are the foundation of promoting circular economy to all of society, and even to the next generation. 

Food Angel organised the first “World Food Rescue Week 2024,” bringing to the city a series of food-saving activities. As a close collaborator of the NGO, Maxim’s Group fully supported “World Food Rescue Week 2024” by calling on the community to save surplus food, thereby minimizing waste and collecting food for those in need. Through a city-wide network of food donation points, this initiative successfully gathered 53 tonnes of food, helping Food Angel to prepare over 240,000 loving meals and food packs, extending care to the elderly and families in need and e promoting the habit of food donation among the public. 

To promote food-saving education, Food Angel became the first charitable organization in Hong Kong to establish a presence in The Sandbox metaverse by integrating the principles and knowledge of food rescue into online missions. Players can experience the daily operations of Food Angel through various mini games, from collecting food, processing ingredient and meal distribution, providing a refreshing and innovative gaming experience. Maxim’s also incorporated various activities themed caring, waste reduction, and food saving into the “Food Angel Food Rescue World" metaverse, enabling the public to learn while having fun.

In support of "World Food Rescue Week", Maxim's Cakes and arome Bakery, both under Maxim’s, launched special offers. Players who complete game missions in the metaverse and register as new members on the Eatizen mobile app can enjoy exclusive food discounts. This incentive aims to motivate more players to actively participate in activities and further promote the concept of food saving among the public. 

Additionally, to facilitate active participation in food donation efforts, Food Angel set up over 200 limited-time pop-up donation points and mobile donation vehicles across various districts in Hong Kong during the event. Ms. Lee, a citizen who donated surplus food to a mobile donation vehicle, shared: “I often have a lot of snacks at home that end up expiring and have to be thrown away, which is very wasteful. But now I can donate these extra snacks to those in need, not only reducing waste but also bringing joy to others – it’s a win-win.”

As part of the long term collaboration with Food Angel, Maxim’s has consistently donated various festive foods such as Chinese preserved sausages, mooncakes, rice dumplings, and surplus bread to Food Angel, spreading warmth to those in need. Maxim’s will continue to actively support the caring initiatives of various charitable organizations, fulfilling its mission of connecting communities with great food.

In collaboration with Food Grace, Maxim's organized the "WeGen Care Soup Sharing and Home Visits" at which Care Ambassadors took the lead as nutritionists and chefs to prepare wholesome and low-carbon nutritious soup. This delightful soup was crafted using beetroot cultivated by a local farm through WeGen farming, and surplus ingredients collected from the wet market. By incorporating WeGen crops with zero pesticides and zero chemical fertilizers, this event shared the nutrition and taste of nature to the community.

In addition, Maxim’s donated 500 boxes of MX Preserved Sausage Giftbox, together with care soups, daily necessities, and heartwarming hand-drawn cards by volunteers. These Goodie bags were delivered to singleton elderly living in the Kwai Tsing district, sharing the fruits of “WeGen farming”. This activity also welcomed volunteers to participate along with their children, encouraging the younger generation to actively participate in volunteer service and learn to care for the community.

Maxim's has always been a supporter of charitable activities organized by its corporate partners. In support of Jardine Matheson's volunteering campaign to upcycle used t-shirts, Maxim's collaborated with the Group's F&B app Eatizen to contribute nearly 300 pieces of old uniforms. In collaboration with Dress Green, a social enterprise dedicated in repurposing waste into resources, these uniforms were creatively upcycled into cutlery holders and tote bags to minimize the pollution and waste in the fashion industry. 

For over a decade, Maxim’s has spearheaded the "Love Bread Campaign" in partnership with food banks such as Feeding Hong Kong, Foodlink and Food Grace. Volunteers collect leftover bread from Maxim's Cakes and arome Bakery and distributed to underprivileged families, elderly and the homelessness. As part of the "WeGen Neighbourhood" initiative, Maxim’s launched a citywide Love Bread Reward Program which rewarded volunteers with the highest participation in the campaign through the above food banks in April, the program encouraged involvement of the wider community to get involved in green volunteer services .

Having received overwhelming response last year in its three sessions last year, the coffee grounds tie-dye workshops had returned as part of the “WeGen Neighbourhood” this year. Once again partnering with Eco-Greenergy, volunteers upcycled coffee grounds collected from Maxim’s Japanese restaurants into eco-friendly dyes. These dyes were skillfully used to create tote bags and shawls adorned with dazzling tie-dye patterns, inspiring the community to embrace arts and waste reduction in their lives. 

Additionally, Maxim’s also co-organized the "Silver Hair Yum Cha O2O" with The Jade Club and Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council. Over 250 elderly, family members and volunteers enjoyed dim sum together, rekindling cherished memories of past yum cha moments, fostering a heartwarming atmosphere of respect and care for the elderly.