Helene Lanctuit – Share My Meals CEO

Mark Freda: Helene, thank you for joining us today.

Helene Lanctuit: Thank you, Mark, for having me.

Mark Freda: Let me ask you a few questions here. What is the mission of Share My Meals, and how does that mission translate into your day-to-day activities?

Helene Lanctuit: Share My Meals facilitates the safe and efficient recovery of surplus prepared meals and delivers them to local communities. Every day we rescue excess meals from about a hundred locations across New Jersey, such as business cafeterias, K-12 schools, universities, and hospitals. We support food security by delivering those nutritious meals either directly to the homes of families or seniors here in Princeton and in Trenton, or through our network of 40 nonprofit partners.

Mark Freda: It is pretty impressive what you all do. Can you share with us when was Share My Meals actually created? Who created it and what is the background there?

Helene Lanctuit: It’s a nice story. It started back in 2019. Our founder is Isabelle Lambotte and she came up with the concept. First, she understood that existing food emergency systems, such as food pantries, were responding to a need but could be complimented with another type of offering, like already prepared meals delivered directly to your door. She also knew from her time in the corporate world that meals were being overproduced. There is just no way for a cafeteria serving thousands of people every day to do an exact planning on quantity. She connected the two dots and came up with this brilliant concept.

Mark Freda: It is an amazing concept. How has the organization evolved since then to today?

Helene Lanctuit: Well, first there was COVID to get through. More people than ever needed food and the cafeterias shut down. But we got a grant from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority at the time to start buying meals at cost from local restaurants—first to keep them afloat, keeping the economy running while at the same time supporting our community with nutritious food.

At that time we developed the logistics and the processes to ensure food safety. By the end of 2021, we launched our meal recovery program as it is now, first here in Princeton recovering from university eating clubs and Bristol Myers Squibb cafeterias. In 2022, we expanded in Mercer County. That first full year alone, we recovered 30,000 meals with just two or three full-time staff and a driver. Today, three years later, we are about 20 staff members, we have about 300 wonderful volunteers who are the backbone of our operations, and we recover 20,000 meals every month across 14 counties in New Jersey.

Mark Freda: Share My Meals’ approach to food collection is clearly different than other food insecurity organizations. Can you explain how your model works and why it matters?

Helene Lanctuit: It is different to a typical food rescue organization because we specialize in recovering prepared meals. We don’t recover bulk pallets of food like other organizations might do at retailers. Because it is perishable food, we developed specific processes around that.

One specificity is that we didn’t want to create any waste along the way, so we use reusable containers. We also developed our own technology platform. Each of those trays has a barcode. When a meal is picked up, it’s scanned; when it’s delivered, it’s scanned. We track the journey of the meal and the inventory of containers. The technology also helps us communicate with food donors, volunteers, and recipients. We track the time at which meals are outside of temperature control during transit. This gives us great quality control and helps us grow efficiently.

Mark Freda: Could you talk a little bit about who some of your key partners are and what role they play?

Helene Lanctuit: We have a broad diversity of partners. First, our local sponsors and supporters who helped us get started, like the municipality, Dorothea’s House (who generously lend us the building we are in today), and Mercer Street Friends. Then we have key relationships with food service providers who are our food donors, such as Sodexo, Compass, Flick, and FISD.

Finally, our nonprofit recipient partners bring the most value. For example, we work with the YWCA of Princeton and Princeton Nursery School. Every week we bring them prepared meals and produce so that when a parent picks up their kids at the end of the day, they go home with a meal. In Trenton, we work with the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen and HomeFront to support families directly at their homes.

Mark Freda: As someone who lives here in Princeton, how can I get involved, either through volunteering or donating?

Helene Lanctuit: We feed 80 families on a weekly basis and about 15 seniors around Princeton and Trenton. We need volunteers to transport the meals and recover them. We also need volunteers with expertise in communications, legal contracts, and fundraising. Of course, we need financial support to keep the staff of 20 running. As we approach giving season, we need all of our residents to stand in solidarity with their community partners.

Mark Freda: How did you first get involved with Share My Meals and what is your role today?

Helene Lanctuit: Today I am the CEO of Share My Meals and the co-chair of the Meal Recovery Coalition. My background is in the private sector; I am French and worked most of my career in Switzerland at Nestlé in R&D. My expertise is actually in packaging! I moved into sustainability roles working on the reduction of food waste. When I moved to Princeton with my family, I met Isabelle a week after landing. I started as a volunteer on the board and in 2023, I was asked to take the role of CEO.

Mark Freda: Beyond meals recovered, what other impacts are you tracking, such as environmental or public health benefits?

Helene Lanctuit: When food ends up in a landfill, it emits methane, which is a very strong contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing food waste by recovering edible portions is a major environmental intervention.

Beyond that, providing a prepared meal saves a recipient more than just money—it saves them time, releases stress, and improves wellbeing. That diversity of food is a gift, and we track that impact as much as we can.

Mark Freda: Where do you see Share My Meals going over the next five years?

Helene Lanctuit: We are just scratching the surface. About 11% of the population in New Jersey—more than 1 million people—face food insecurity. We estimate that about 5 million prepared meals are recoverable in New Jersey every year. We realized we could not do that alone. In five years, we see ourselves working collectively with partners to recover those 5 million meals as efficiently as possible, complementing current efforts.

Mark Freda: For listeners who might be new to this, explain exactly what meal recovery is and why it’s such an urgent issue?

Helene Lanctuit: About 40% of all food produced is wasted. Out of that, about 20% is prepared food. In New Jersey, that’s a hundred million meals. Meal recovery is about recovering this food from the service sector and hospitality in a safe, controlled manner. We want to set standards so that donating excess food becomes the norm, rather than putting it in the trash.

Mark Freda: When did Share My Meals decide to launch the Meal Recovery Coalition?

Helene Lanctuit: We realized if we put large corporations collectively around the same cause and spoke to the government together, we would be much stronger. We now have 12 members—10 corporations and two nonprofits. Our goal is to improve logistics, bring visibility to food insecurity, and collaborate to create pathways to distribute meals effectively.

Mark Freda: What milestones stand out for the Coalition recently?

Helene Lanctuit: The launch event in September 2024 was special. We had diversity of voices in the room sharing barriers to meal recovery. Three topics stood out: getting the finances right, aligning on safety standards, and bringing visibility. Now, we have the New Jersey Department of Health and the Department of Environmental Protection involved.

Mark Freda: What is it going to take to recover 5 million meals each year? Can this be replicated across the country?

Helene Lanctuit: It takes coordination. We are working with other food rescue organizations in New Jersey that weren’t speaking to each other before. We are also testing this model in New York City and sharing our technology in other states. We want to create a playbook that others can use.

Mark Freda: For people looking to support you, the website is the easiest way?

Helene Lanctuit: Yes, sharemymeals.org is the best way. You can volunteer or donate through a check, wire transfer, or a donor-advised fund.

Mark Freda: Helene, thanks for being here today.

Helene Lanctuit: Thank you so much, Mark.