Food Runners
Food Runners is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that uses a network of approximately 300 volunteers to pick up excess perishable and prepared food from 450+ San Francisco businesses and deliver it free of charge to neighborhood shelters and food programs; since April 2023 it operates as a program of ExtraFood.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1987
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Food Runners does
Food Runners is a San Francisco-based nonprofit food rescue organization founded in 1987 by Mary Risley. It coordinates the pickup of excess perishable and prepared food from more than 450 donor businesses—including restaurants, caterers, bakeries, grocery stores, hospitals, hotels, schools, and corporate cafeterias—and delivers it directly to neighborhood food programs such as shelters, soup kitchens, youth programs, senior centers, and rehabilitation facilities. The organization operates with no proprietary technology platform: pickup and delivery are coordinated via phone, email, and volunteer scheduling, with a network of approximately 300 active volunteers using personal vehicles and a couple of paid drivers operating the Food Runners truck for larger donations. Reported throughput exceeds 17 tons of food per week, equivalent to over 30,000 meals weekly.
Food Runners' business model is donation-funded and non-commercial; the pickup and delivery service is provided free of charge to both donors and recipients. Monetary donations are tax-deductible and processed online through GiveLively under the umbrella of ExtraFood, a 501(c)(3) corporation (Federal ID 46-4025887) that absorbed Food Runners as a program in April 2023. A separate meat program uses donated funds to purchase protein for shelters. Liability exposure for donors is mitigated through reliance on state and federal Good Samaritan food donation laws.
In April 2023, Food Runners transitioned from an independent nonprofit to a program of ExtraFood, an organization founded 15 years earlier in Marin County by Marv Zauderer using the Food Runners model. The partnership allows the two organizations to share resources and expand food recovery across the Bay Area, with founder Mary Risley continuing in a Director role providing training and technical assistance. The organization has no mobile application, no public API, no disclosed AI/ML capabilities, and no funding rounds on record; all operational data (volume, donor counts, headcount) is self-reported through the organization's website and blog rather than audited disclosures.
Food Runners firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Food Runners
- Legal name
- Food Runners
- Website
- https://foodrunners.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1987
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Food Runners is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that uses a network of approximately 300 volunteers to pick up excess perishable and prepared food from 450+ San Francisco businesses and deliver it free of charge to neighborhood shelters and food programs; since April 2023 it operates as a program of ExtraFood.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Food Runners industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Food Rescue Services
- NAICS
- Community Food Services (62421)
- SIC
- Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Mass Participation Race Organizers (Runs, Triathlons, Cycling) (MPAKADAD)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Food Assistance & Food Banks (BPAGAEAA)
Keywords
Where Food Runners is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Food Runners business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Operations, Personnel, Others
Revenue model
- Monetary Donations: Food Runners accepts monetary donations to support operations, including purchasing meat for the meat program. Donations are tax-deductible through ExtraFood's 501(c)(3) status.
- Volunteer Services: Volunteers donate their time and use personal vehicles to perform food pickups and deliveries. This volunteer labor model enables the organization to operate with minimal paid staff.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Other | Free service for food donors and recipients |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels5 records
Food Runners product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Food Runners is a nonprofit food rescue organization that picks up excess perishable and prepared food from businesses such as restaurants, caterers, bakeries, hospitals, event planners, corporate cafeterias, and hotels, and delivers it directly to neighborhood food programs in San Francisco. The service is performed free of charge by approximately 300 volunteers using personal vehicles and by a small number of paid drivers operating the Food Runners truck for larger donations.
Product overview
Food Runners is a nonprofit food rescue organization that operates as a single, unified service offering—coordinating the pickup and delivery of excess edible food from donors to food-insecure recipients in San Francisco. The organization functions through three interconnected service components: food donation pickup coordination (connecting restaurants, caterers, bakeries, hospitals, and other food businesses with volunteer runners), volunteer coordination (managing a network of approximately 300 volunteers who perform food runs), and monetary donation processing (via GiveLively's online platform). Food Runners is now a program of ExtraFood, strengthening food recovery efforts in the Bay Area.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Food Donation Pickup Service Free service that picks up excess perishable and prepared food from donors including restaurants, caterers, bakeries, hospitals, event planners, corporate cafeterias, and hotels, then delivers the food directly to neighborhood feeding programs in San Francisco.
- Volunteer Coordination Service Coordinates a network of approximately 300 volunteers who pick up food from donors and deliver it to recipient agencies. Volunteers can sign up as regular runners (same weekly pickup/delivery route) or on-call runners dispatched as needed.
- Monetary Donation Processing Accepts tax-deductible financial donations through GiveLively's secure online platform or by check to support operations, including purchasing meat for the meat program. Donations are processed under ExtraFood's 501(c)(3) status.
- Food Runners Truck Service Paid-driver truck service for extra-large food donations requiring specialized transport capacity beyond what volunteer personal vehicles can handle.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 18 tons of food rescued per year
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Food Runners
Customer profileNamed customers21 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Food Runners technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Food Runners partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- ExtraFoodcoreFood Runners is now a program of ExtraFood, partnering to ensure operations continue and expand in San Francisco. ExtraFood was founded by Marv Zauderer 15 years ago based on the Food Runners model. The partnership combines strengths and resources to combat food waste and hunger more effectively. Mary Risley provides training and technical assistance to ExtraFood.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Food Runners competitors and assessment
Company assessmentRegional players
- FoodCloud: Ireland-headquartered (with UK expansion) food rescue platform connecting retailers and food businesses with charities. Comparable surplus-food redirection mission but operating transatlantically; useful benchmark for tech-enabled food rescue at scale.
- Second Harvest of Silicon Valley: Major Bay Area food bank serving Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. Comparable mission (food recovery and distribution to hungry populations) but geographically adjacent rather than overlapping with Food Runners' SF focus.
Direct peers
- Food Rescue US: National nonprofit that connects food donors directly to recipient agencies via a volunteer driver platform. Closest national-scale peer in terms of volunteer-led direct-transfer model, with a tech-enabled matching app that Food Runners lacks.
- 412 Food Rescue: Pittsburgh-based food rescue organization using a tech-enabled platform to redirect surplus food from businesses to nonprofits serving food-insecure individuals. Directly comparable volunteer-and-tech-driven recovery model.
- Rethink Food NYC: New York City-based nonprofit that rescues surplus food and repurposes it into meals for food-insecure communities. Comparable surplus-recovery and redistribution mission with both prepared-meal and direct-delivery elements.
- ExtraFood: Marin County-based food recovery organization founded in 2008 using the Food Runners model. Now the parent 501(c)(3) of Food Runners following the April 2023 partnership, making it the most directly comparable operating peer.
Broad incumbents
- SF-Marin Food Banks: Largest hunger-relief organization in the Bay Area, distributing food through a partner agency network. Operates the food-bank model in the same geography as Food Runners but with warehouse-based, non-perishable focus rather than volunteer-led direct delivery of perishables.
- City Harvest: New York City's largest food rescue organization, feeding millions of New Yorkers. Larger, more established peer operating in a different region but with directly overlapping food-rescue mission and volunteer-driven model.
- DC Central Kitchen: Washington DC-area nonprofit that recovers food, prepares meals, and provides culinary job training. Comparable food-recovery and hunger-relief mission at larger scale, combining rescue with value-added meal production.
Emerging players
- Olio: UK-based food-sharing app that connects neighbors and businesses to share surplus food. Thematically comparable food-waste-reduction mission with a digital-native, consumer-app model that contrasts with Food Runners' traditional volunteer approach.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Food Runners social profiles
Digital presenceFood Runners financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Food Runners leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Food Runners funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Food Runners M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Food Runners
What does Food Runners do?
Food Runners is a nonprofit food rescue organization that picks up excess perishable and prepared food from businesses such as restaurants, caterers, bakeries, hospitals, event planners, corporate cafeterias, and hotels, and delivers it directly to neighborhood food programs in San Francisco. The service is performed free of charge by approximately 300 volunteers using personal vehicles and by a small number of paid drivers operating the Food Runners truck for larger donations.
Is Food Runners a public or private company?
Food Runners is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Food Runners founded?
Food Runners was founded in 1987. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Food Runners based?
Food Runners is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Food Runners make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Monetary Donations are the primary driver. The others are volunteer Services.
Who are Food Runners's main competitors?
Regional players on record are FoodCloud and Second Harvest of Silicon Valley. Direct peers are Food Rescue US, 412 Food Rescue, Rethink Food NYC and ExtraFood. Broad incumbents are SF-Marin Food Banks, City Harvest and DC Central Kitchen. Olio is listed as an emerging player.
Does Food Runners have an API?
No public API is recorded for Food Runners.
What industry is Food Runners in?
Food Runners's product category is Food Rescue Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAKADAD, Mass Participation Race Organizers (Runs, Triathlons, Cycling), with a secondary code of BPAGAEAA, Food Assistance & Food Banks. Its NAICS code is 62421 and its SIC code is 7900.