Food Bank Saitama

What Food Bank Saitama does

Food Bank Saitama (特定非営利活動法人フードバンク埼玉) is a Specified Non-Profit Corporation (NPO) headquartered in Urawa Ward, Saitama City, Japan. Established in September 2017, the organization originated from support activities for evacuees of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake who had relocated to Saitama Prefecture. Its core function is collecting surplus food from businesses and households and redistributing it to food-insecure individuals, food pantries, child food kitchens, and welfare organizations. The organization operates through 150+ permanent food drive collection points located at supermarkets and commercial facilities including Co-op Mirai, Ito-Yokado, and Aeon stores, supported by a refrigerated/frozen warehouse in Kuki City and a secondary operations office.

The organization is governed by a board comprising 11 regular member organizations, including major cooperatives (Co-op Mirai, Seikatsu Club, Pal System Saitama), labor unions (Rengo Saitama, Saitama Roren), and agricultural associations (JA Saitama Chuokai). Its leadership consists of Representative Director Toyoshima Ryosuke (とよしま亮介) and Director Nagata Nobuo (永田信雄), both with disaster response backgrounds. The technology footprint is minimal — the organization uses traditional food bank logistics rather than proprietary technology systems.

Food Bank Saitama funds operations through four revenue streams: membership fees from organizational and corporate/SDG members, monetary donations, in-kind food donations (the largest incoming category), and government subsidies from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Services are provided free of charge to recipients. Annual food handling exceeded 130 tons by FY2025, up from approximately 20 tons at founding (a 6.5x increase), with coverage spanning all 53 municipalities of Saitama Prefecture and supporting approximately 40,000 people annually through welfare networks. The organization has demonstrated disaster response capability across the 2011 earthquake, COVID-19 pandemic, and 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake.

Name

Food Bank Saitama

Legal name

特定非営利活動法人フードバンク埼玉

Website

https://foodbanksaitama.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Food Bank Saitama is a non-profit food bank collecting surplus food from businesses and households across Saitama Prefecture and redistributing it to food pantries, child meal programs, and welfare organizations serving food-insecure residents.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Food Bank / Charitable Food Distribution Services

NAICS

Community Food Services (624210), Emergency and Other Relief Services (62423)

akta.pro primary industry

Food Assistance & Food Banks (BPAGAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Food Assistance & Nutrition Relief (Emergency Feeding) (BPAGAAAD)

Keywords

• Food bank services
• Surplus food redistribution
• Community food drives
• Hunger relief programs
• Disaster food assistance

Headquarters

HQ city

Urawa

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Annual membership fees from organizational members (正会員) including cooperatives, unions, and NPO networks, as well as supporting/corporate members (賛助会員/SDGs会員).
2. Monetary Donations: Direct financial contributions from individuals and corporate donors to support operational activities.
3. Food Donations (In-kind): Corporate food donations form the largest category of incoming food support. The organization redistributes donated food to those in need.
4. Government Subsidies and Grants: Funding from Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries for food bank activity strengthening projects and emergency food assistance support programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Food Bank Saitama is a non-profit organization that collects surplus food from businesses and households through a network of 150+ permanent food drive collection points and direct corporate donations, stores it at its refrigerated Kuki warehouse, and redistributes it to food-insecure individuals and families via child food kitchens, food pantries, social welfare councils, and disaster relief channels across all 53 municipalities of Saitama Prefecture. Food assistance is provided free of charge, and the organization is funded by membership fees, monetary donations, in-kind food donations, and government subsidies.

Product overview

Food Bank Saitama is a nonprofit organization operating a food bank system that collects surplus and donated food from businesses and individuals and redistributes it to those in need. The organization offers food collection and distribution services, food drive programs with fixed collection points throughout the prefecture, volunteer sorting programs, disaster relief support, and corporate membership options. The portfolio consists of core food banking services complemented by food drive operations, volunteer programs, and membership services for businesses seeking SDG alignment.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Food Bank Services (食品支援サービス)

Quantifiable outcome

• Annual food handling exceeds 130 tons
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

21 partnerships are on record, tiered minor, major and core.

• PR TIMES (株式会社PR TIMES)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 March 2025Selected for PR TIMES Non-profit Organization Support Project providing press release distribution services to enhance public awareness.
• Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Kanto Bureau (農林水産省関東農政局)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 February 2025Government partner providing information on food access policies, government rice distribution programs, and food loss reduction initiatives.
• Citizen Cabinet Disaster Support Division (市民キャビネット災害支援部会)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Disaster relief organization coordinating emergency food shipments. Food Bank Saitama provides supplies for Noto Peninsula earthquake relief efforts.
• Aeon Group (イオングループ)majorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2024Major retailer partnership for food drive campaigns including events at Aeon Lake Town store and child food kitchen matching programs.
• AGS Co., Ltd. (AGS株式会社)majorGTM or Marketing Partner · 31 October 2023IT services company conducting employee food drives and donating disaster relief supplies. Total donation of 417kg including freeze-dried biscuits, emergency rations, and water.
• Omiya Aldejas Ventus / MET Design HomeminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 19 June 2023Professional soccer team and partner company conducting food donation project '1Win 1GOAL project' matching team victories with food bank donations.
• Saitama Food Pantry Network (埼玉フードパントリーネットワーク)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Network of food pantries coordinated by the organization. Hosted Saitama Food Safety Net meetings. Joint food distribution initiatives.
• NTT East Saitama Branch (NTT東日本埼玉支社)majorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2022Corporate donor providing 30 tons (8,000 boxes) of disaster relief food inventory for redistribution. Food delivered to Food Bank Saitama and 20 food pantries.
• Second Harvest Japan (セカンドハーベスト・ジャパン)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022National food bank network member. Participates in Saitama Food Safety Net conferences and collaborative initiatives.
• Ito-Yokado (イトーヨーカドー)majorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2022Major retailer hosting 5 permanent food drive collection points at stores including Soka-Shinden, Nishi-Kawaguchi, Omiya-Miyahara, Asaka, and Ario Ageo locations.
• Saitama Resona Bank & Maruwa Transport (埼玉りそな銀行&丸和運輸機関)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2022Corporate employees conducting internal food drives collecting 1,409 food items and 1,884 daily goods for donation.
• Coop Mirai Additional StoresmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 20229 additional stores added as permanent food drive collection points: Kamikizaki, Omiya-Nakagawa, Misato-Waseda, Takashina, Minami-Urawa, Imaizumi, Futatsumiya, Okegawa, Mizuhodai.
• Saitama Roren (埼玉県労働者福祉協議会/埼玉労福協)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 September 2017Core founding member organization and regular member of Food Bank Saitama. Hosts joint events and provides operational support.
• Saitama Kenren (埼玉県生活協同組合連合会/埼玉県生協連)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 September 2017Regular member organization representing cooperative unions. Participates in governance and provides member coordination.
• JA Saitama Chuokai (埼玉県農業協同組合中央会)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 September 2017Agricultural cooperative central organization as regular member, facilitating agricultural product donations.
• Co-op Mirai (生活協同組合コープみらい)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 September 2017Major cooperative member operating 9 permanent food drive collection points as of 2022. Provides warehouse space for meetings.
• Seikatsu Club (生活クラブ生活協同組合)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 September 2017Consumer cooperative member hosting volunteer training sessions at their Saitama headquarters.
• Pal System Saitama (生活協同組合パルシステム埼玉)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 September 2017Cooperative member providing meeting facilities at Pal System Parl* Terasu office.
• Workers' Co-op / Rodo Kyokai (日本労働者協同組合/ワーカーズコープ)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 September 2017Labor cooperative member providing meeting facilities at their Saitama office.
• NPO Saitama Net (特定非営利活動法人NPO埼玉ネット)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 September 2017NPO network organization as regular member, participating in governance.
• Rengo Saitama (日本労働組合総連合会 埼玉県連合会/連合埼玉)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 September 2017Labor union federation member. Supports Kuki office operations through Life Support Station Net 21 Kuki.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Food Bank Yokohama (NPO法人フードバンク横浜): Kanagawa-region food bank using the same model of supermarket collection points, corporate donor partnerships, and welfare-organization redistribution. Useful peer for comparing per-prefecture throughput, volunteer models, and local-government engagement.
• NPO Food Bank Nagoya (フードバンク愛知/NPO法人いろは): Aichi-region food bank operating with comparable methodology — collecting surplus from manufacturers and redistributing to child-meal kitchens and welfare groups. Comparable beneficiary profile and target donor mix in a different Japanese region.
• Food Bank Tokyo (認定NPO法人フードバンク東京): Tokyo-based food bank operating with the same collection/redistribution model under Japan's Specified Nonprofit Corporation framework. Comparable in scope, target beneficiaries, and reliance on cooperative/corporate donors. Demonstrates a regional-bank model that could inform potential expansion beyond Saitama.
• Food Bank Osaka (フードバンクおおさか): Osaka-based food bank serving western Japan with a similar corporate-donor + child-meal-program distribution model. Comparable scale and beneficiary profile; useful benchmark for western-Japan expansion or partnership scenarios.

Broad incumbents

• Feeding America (US): Largest US food-bank network operating the same surplus-collection → redistribution-to-pantries model across 200+ member food banks. Useful for benchmarking governance structure, corporate-donor programs, and long-run scale economics that Food Bank Saitama could pursue via Saitama Food Safety Net partnerships.

Direct peers

• Second Harvest Japan (認定NPO法人セカンドハーベスト・ジャパン): Japan's largest food bank operator; explicitly identified as a strategic partner of Food Bank Saitama and a member of the Saitama Food Safety Net. Same model (collect surplus food, redistribute to NGOs/welfare), but national scope vs. Saitama-only. Most directly comparable peer for benchmarking scale and governance.

Others

• Food Loss Zero Promotion Organization (食品ロス削減推進事業 / consumer-goods industry): Adjacent ecosystem player coordinating Japanese industry food-loss reduction efforts under government policy. Not a direct competitor but operates in the same food-waste-reduction value chain and represents both a partnership opportunity and a sourcing channel for surplus donations.

Emerging players

• TABLE FOR TWO International (認定NPO法人テーブルフォーツー): Japan-headquartered NGO tackling food insecurity via workplace-canteen meal-donation model rather than physical food-bank logistics. Different mechanism but overlapping donor base (corporate ESG partners), beneficiary profile (low-income populations), and policy positioning on food security.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Food Bank Saitama