Daily Bread Food Bank

What Daily Bread Food Bank does

Daily Bread Food Bank is a registered Canadian charity (Charity Number 11888 1549 RR0001) founded in 1983 in Toronto, operating as the city's largest emergency food distribution organization. It fights food insecurity by procuring, warehousing, and redistributing food through a network of 129 member agencies running 205 client-facing programs across Toronto, supplemented by its own on-site New Toronto Street Food Bank in Etobicoke and a commercial kitchen producing heat-and-eat meals for homebound clients via the Canadian Red Cross Mobile Food Bank. Its core infrastructure consists of a 108,000 ft² cold-chain-certified warehouse with 5,000+ ft² of refrigerated/frozen capacity, a dedicated logistics fleet, and a 16-farm Farm to Food Bank produce-rescue program; client intake runs on the Link2Feed shared-ID platform across 100+ member food banks, with volunteer scheduling on VolunteerHub and employer donation matching via Double the Donation.

The organization operates on a donation-based revenue model with no commercial sales. Revenue streams include one-time and recurring individual gifts (online portal, monthly subscriptions, gift of securities, bequests, in-honour/in-memory, catalogue), corporate cash donations and sponsorships, corporate food inventory donations (free 24-48 hour pickup of pallets/truckloads from 350+ retail/manufacturing partners), community-led "Community Champion" fundraising, major foundation gifts (notably Slaight Family Foundation $7.5M and $10M, Church of Jesus Christ $2M, 407 ETR $1M), event-driven campaigns (Canstruction Toronto, Tim Hortons Holiday Smile Cookie, Purolator Tackle Hunger, CBC Make the Season Kind, CPKC Holiday Train, Blakes Law Firm Challenge), and investment income on a portfolio of disclosed holdings ($1.8M investment income, $0.3M unrealized gain in FY 2023-24). Food purchasing budget alone scaled from $1.5M pre-pandemic to $22M, reflecting a deliberate shift from reliance on donated inventory toward purchased supply as retail donations fell.

In FY 2023-24 Daily Bread recorded 3,388,404 client visits (32% YoY increase), 38,392,522 lbs of food distributed (37% YoY increase), 256,999 unique individuals served, and 254,312 meals cooked; by 2025 Toronto-wide food bank visits reached 4.1 million, a 340% increase over 2019. The organization couples direct service with an independent research and advocacy arm producing the annual Who's Hungry report (since 2010, co-published with North York Harvest Food Bank), The 2030 Project podcast, and federal/provincial/municipal policy submissions targeting income supports, affordable housing, and decent work as root-cause interventions.

Name

Daily Bread Food Bank

Legal name

Daily Bread Food Bank

Website

https://dailybread.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Daily Bread Food Bank is a Toronto-based registered Canadian charity, founded in 1983, that fights food insecurity by sourcing, warehousing, and distributing food through 129 member agencies and 205 programs citywide — serving roughly 330,000 clients per month from a 108,000 ft² cold-chain warehouse.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Emergency Food Assistance

NAICS

Community Food Services (62421), Community Food Services (624210)

SIC

Wholesale-Groceries, General Line (5141)

akta.pro primary industry

Food Assistance & Food Banks (BPAGAEAA)

Keywords

• Emergency food distribution
• Food bank services
• Charitable food rescue
• Hunger relief programs
• Community food assistance

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. One-time & Recurring Individual Donations: Public donation portal accepting one-time gifts, monthly recurring gifts, in-honour gifts (with e-card), in-memory gifts (with e-card), gifts from online catalogue, gift of securities, gift in Will/bequest, and matched donations via Double the Donation's employer database.
2. Corporate Donations & Sponsorships: Philanthropic corporate cash donations, food inventory donations (corporate food donation program with 24-48 hr free pickup), team-building Employee Volunteer Program fees, workplace fundraising campaigns, and cause-marketing promotions governed by Daily Bread's cause-marketing terms of agreement.
3. Community-Led Fundraising & Food Drives: "Community Champion" personal, workplace, community, and school fundraising pages plus food drives using Daily Bread donation bins/cloth bags, with custom URLs; seasonal Thanksgiving Drive goal of $4.4M and 225,000 lbs in 2025.
4. Food Inventory Donation Program (Retail & Farm): Free pickup of surplus/short-dated food from retailers and 3PL-managed inventory (pallets to truckloads), plus direct farm partner produce donations; covered by Ontario Donation of Food Act liability protection.
5. Major Gifts & Grants: Large transformational donations and grants from foundations and high-net-worth donors (e.g., Slaight Family Foundation $7.5M and $10M gifts; Church of Jesus Christ $2M; 407 ETR $1M; Metallica $40K), reported on the audited financials.
6. Investment & Other Income: Investment income of $1.8M and unrealized fair value gain on investments of $0.3M reported alongside revenue and expenses for fiscal year July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Daily Bread Food Bank is a registered Canadian charity that collects, purchases, and redistributes food through a network of 129 member agencies operating 205 food programs across Toronto. It runs a 108,000 sq ft cold-chain certified warehouse, an in-house commercial kitchen producing heat-and-eat meals, and an on-site New Toronto Street Food Bank that provides direct service to food-insecure households along with information and referral supports.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Farm to Food Bank: A program that receives fresh seasonal produce directly from farm partners and distributes it to Torontonians in need. In the period July 2023 – June 2024, it received 4,594,570 lbs of fresh produce from 16 farm partners.
• New Toronto Street Food Bank
• Daily Bread Kitchen
• Who's Hungry Report

Products and services

• Member Agency Food Distribution Network Wholesale-style redistribution of fresh, frozen, and shelf-stable food to 129 independent member agencies operating 205 client-facing food programs across Toronto, including training in safe food handling, referrals, and anti-oppression practice.
• New Toronto Street Food Bank On-site food bank and Information and Referral Centre at 191 New Toronto Street, Etobicoke, providing direct drop-in and appointment-based food assistance plus referrals to community services.
• Daily Bread Kitchen Heat-and-Eat Meal Program In-house commercial kitchen that produces heat-and-eat single-serve meals (over 1,000 per business day) for clients unable to access traditional food bank programs, distributed primarily through the Canadian Red Cross Mobile Food Bank.
• Farm to Food Bank Program Direct procurement program rescuing perfectly imperfect fresh seasonal produce from 16 farm partners for redistribution to member agencies, supplying 50+ varieties of fruits and vegetables and avoiding field-level food waste.
• Corporate Food Donation Pickup Program Free 24-48 hour pickup of surplus and short-dated food inventory (pallets to truckloads) from retailers, manufacturers, and 3PLs, with liability protection under Ontario's Donation of Food Act.
• Information and Referral Services Client-facing referral service linking food bank visitors to dental, vision, mental health, housing, newcomer settlement, and employment supports as part of a holistic anti-poverty service model.
• Who's Hungry Annual Research Report Annual research publication co-produced with North York Harvest Food Bank since 2010, profiling poverty and food insecurity in the City of Toronto and supporting policy advocacy submissions.
• Corporate Employee Volunteer Program Structured corporate team-building volunteer shifts at the warehouse, kitchen, and food-sort events, invoiced in advance with a minimum program fee; used by partners such as Kellogg Canada and Cisco.
• Rights-Based Shopping-Model Food Distribution Choice-based grocery-store-style food distribution model that allows clients to select preferred items within categories by household size, supplementing pre-packed food boxes for high-volume programs; informed by an annual Client Preferences Survey of 1,000+ clients.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3,388,404 client visits between July 2023 and June 2024 (32% YoY increase)
• +8 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

27 partnerships are on record, tiered mid-tier, low-tier and high-tier.

• WDI Wise Device Inc.mid-tierStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 June 2026Deepened its commitment to fighting hunger through expanded partnership with Daily Bread Food Bank (blog post June 19, 2026).
• Second Harvestmid-tierStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 May 2026Toronto-based food rescue organization referenced in coverage of avoidable food waste (23% of Canadian food waste, valued at $12B+); Daily Bread cited as a food bank experiencing record demand driven in part by labelling confusion.
• Mary Macleod's Shortbreadmid-tierStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 March 2026Canadian family-owned bakery marking its 45th anniversary (founded Toronto 1981) with a food donation program partnership with Daily Bread Food Bank. Donation program contributes $1 in food for every $5 spent by customers, generating more than $20,000 in its first year with a goal to match/exceed that in 2026; expanded international distribution into the Middle East and Asia.
• Blakes Law Firm (Blakes Challenge)mid-tierGTM or Marketing Partner · 9 January 2026Long-running 23-year-old Blakes Law Firm Challenge smashed its fundraising record in 2025; supported by law firm teams volunteering to sort food.
• CBC (Make the Season Kind)mid-tierGTM or Marketing Partner · 9 January 2026CBC Toronto's annual Make the Season Kind campaign raised nearly $1M for GTA food banks including Daily Bread (Jan 2026); also runs CBC School Challenge student fundraising program.
• Tim Hortons (Holiday Smile Cookie campaign)mid-tierGTM or Marketing Partner · 10 December 2025Annual Holiday Smile Cookie campaign raised over $211,000 for Daily Bread Food Bank (Dec 2025); prior years raised over $180,000 (Dec 2024).
• CBC (School Challenge)mid-tierGTM or Marketing Partner · 8 December 2025CBC School Challenge celebrating next generation of student changemakers tackling food insecurity through fundraising and food drives for Daily Bread.
• Billy Bishop Toronto City Airportmid-tierGTM or Marketing Partner · 4 December 2025Annual holiday giving partnership raising over $26,000 for Daily Bread Food Bank (Dec 2024).
• CPKC (Canadian Pacific Kansas City) Holiday Trainmid-tierGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 December 2025Annual CPKC Holiday Train fundraising event — equivalent of over 20,000 meals raised for Daily Bread Food Bank (Dec 2024); "bright night" event Dec 2025.
• Canstruction Torontomid-tierGTM or Marketing Partner · 14 October 2025Annual design-build competition donating food to Daily Bread; cumulative donation legacy now nearly 1.3M pounds; 21st year in 2023; 2026 event held May 2026.
• Toronto Argonauts (CFL)mid-tierGTM or Marketing Partner · 7 October 2025Multi-year partnership tackling hunger; Argos fans food drive raised 20,253 lbs of food (Oct 2025).
• Amazonmid-tierStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 September 2025Partnership supporting food delivery and logistics for Daily Bread Food Bank (Sept 2025).
• Purolator (Tackle Hunger Red Bag campaign)mid-tierGTM or Marketing Partner · 23 September 2025Annual Purolator Tackle Hunger Red Bag campaign with Toronto Argonauts to collect non-perishable food donations; Thanksgiving 2025 partnership.
• Rogers Centrelow-tierStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 December 2024Partnership increasing food storage capacity for Daily Bread.
• Italpastalow-tierStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 November 2024Food donor partner featured in donor spotlight series (Nov 2024).
• Virgin Radio (Fearless Food Drive)mid-tierGTM or Marketing Partner · 19 November 2024Virgin Radio's annual Fearless Food Drive supporting Daily Bread Food Bank.
• Trucks for Changemid-tierStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 October 2024Trucks for Change Food Sort Challenge supporting Daily Bread operations.
• Chary Producelow-tierStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 August 2024Produce donor helping nourish Toronto via Farm to Food Bank program (Aug 2025).
• Disability Without Poverty / March of Dimes Canada (fundthebenefit.ca coalition)high-tierStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 April 2024Coalition of 40+ organizations led by Daily Bread advocating for the Canada Disability Benefit. Campaign reached 1.43M Canadians and generated 140,000 letters to MPs, helping secure $6.1B Canada Disability Benefit over six years.
• Angus Reid Institutemid-tierStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Research partnership with Disability Without Poverty producing study "Canadians' Views on the Canada Disability Benefit" — found 9 in 10 Canadians support a fully funded benefit.
• LOFT / Toronto Community Housing Corporationmid-tierStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Partnered to open the Mount Dennis Community Food Bank in the high-need Humber Boulevard area.
• Enbridge Gasmid-tierStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 October 2023Enbridge Gas Home Winterproofing Program partnership supporting Daily Bread clients.
• Toronto Argonauts (initial partnership)mid-tierGTM or Marketing Partner · 18 October 2023Original Argos partnership announcement Oct 2022; expanded to tackle hunger at Daily Bread (June 2023); continuing 2025 Purolator/Argos fan food drive.
• Kellogg Canada (Employee Volunteer Program)high-tierGTM or Marketing Partner · 9 May 2023Annual Day of Caring initiative: a team of more than 80 employees filled Daily Bread's warehouse for a morning of volunteer activities, helping provide nearly 64,000 meals.
• North York Harvest Food Bankhigh-tierStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Co-publisher of the annual Who's Hungry report profiling poverty and food insecurity in the City of Toronto since 2010 (back catalogue to 2010).
• Canadian Red Cross (Mobile Food Bank)high-tierStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Receives 43,038 single-serve heat-and-eat meals annually from Daily Bread Kitchen for delivery to clients medically unable to access traditional food banks.
• Cisco (Employee Volunteer Program)mid-tierGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2023Recurring Cisco employee volunteer team supporting food sorting and warehouse activities at Daily Bread.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• North York Harvest Food Bank: Toronto-area food bank that co-publishes the annual Who's Hungry report with Daily Bread. Operates a member-agency distribution model serving North York and collaborates on research and advocacy, making it the most directly comparable peer in the same geographic and operational model.
• Second Harvest: Toronto-based food rescue organization focused on redirecting surplus food from businesses to nonprofits. Operates as a direct peer in the food redistribution space and is referenced in Daily Bread's own coverage; both organizations compete for corporate food donor partnerships.
• The Stop Community Food Centre: Toronto community food centre operating as both a Daily Bread member agency and an independent food justice organization. Comparable in mission (food access + advocacy) and serves overlapping client populations in Toronto.

Broad incumbents

• Food Banks Canada: National umbrella organization representing the Canadian food bank network. Provides sector accreditation (Daily Bread holds Standards of Excellence), coordinates national campaigns, and serves as the industry trade body that Daily Bread operates within.
• Feed Ontario: Provincial association of Ontario food banks. Awarded Daily Bread's Client Programs Manager the Bridge Builder Award and recognized CEO Neil Hetherington, positioning it as the Ontario sector peer and trade body.

Emerging players

• FoodShare Toronto: Toronto-based food justice organization focused on food access, urban agriculture, and advocacy. Operates a different model (community programs vs. food bank distribution) but competes for donor attention and shares the Toronto food security mission.

Regional players

• Moisson Montréal: Montreal's largest food bank, operating a member-agency distribution model serving Greater Montreal. Functionally similar to Daily Bread but geographically separate, serving as the closest comparable peer for operating model and scale.
• Vancouver Food Bank: Vancouver's primary food bank serving Greater Vancouver. Operates a similar direct-distribution and member-agency model in a different Canadian metropolitan market, making it a relevant regional peer for comparable operational benchmarks.
• Calgary Food Bank: Calgary's primary food bank operating emergency food distribution and member programs across the city. Comparable in scale and operating model to Daily Bread, serving as a Western Canadian regional peer.

Others

• Daily Bread Food Bank (Member Agencies) - Parkdale Community Food Bank: One of Daily Bread's 129 member agencies operating a drop-in food bank in Parkdale. Represents the network of last-mile food distribution partners that Daily Bread supplies wholesale food to, illustrating the ecosystem of dependent peer organizations.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/dailybreadto
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/DailyBreadFoodBank
• Facebookfacebook.com/dailybreadfoodbank
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/daily-bread-food-bank
• Instagraminstagram.com/DailyBreadTO
• Pinterestca.pinterest.com/dailybreadto
• TikToktiktok.com/@dailybreadfoodbank

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Daily Bread Food Bank