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During the full-scale war in Ukraine, food security has become a critical pillar of the country’s overall resilience. Alongside ongoing efforts to preserve and develop the agricultural and food industries, millions of tons of high-quality products are wasted annually—goods that could otherwise significantly improve the lives of those facing severe hardship. The issue of food waste management can be effectively addressed through the foodbanking model, especially when enhanced by advanced digital solutions. Recently, one such solution was launched in Ukraine, driven by the pro bono efforts of IT volunteers from EPAM.
Foodbanking is a system of responsible food redistribution designed to rescue products from being destroyed and deliver them to those in need. This typically involves products that have lost their commercial value due to approaching expiration dates, damaged or altered packaging, or product line updates, yet remain fully certified and fit for consumption. In 2025 alone, the non-profit organization FoodBank Ukraine rescued and distributed over 4.5 million kilograms of food for charity. This equates to nearly 10 million meals provided to more than 1.4 million people in frontline territories.
This approach simultaneously addresses both social and environmental challenges. When organic waste ends up in landfills, its decomposition becomes a major source of methane emissions—one of the most potent greenhouse gases. Consequently, reducing food loss and waste remains a top priority of global environmental policy and is aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
With the outbreak of the full-scale war, the humanitarian sector faced unprecedented challenges: the number of organizations requiring coordination grew exponentially, logistics became increasingly complex, and demands for process transparency intensified. Warehouse infrastructure is a key pillar of FoodBank Ukraine’s operations. This is where large batches of products received from corporate partners are inspected, sorted, and packaged before being distributed to local communities.
The warehouse enables rapid response to emergencies, ensures proper food storage conditions, assembles humanitarian kits, and minimizes resource waste. In effect, it serves as the operational hub upon which the speed and efficiency of the entire food assistance system depend. Just as in the commercial sector, humanitarian warehouse infrastructure requires modern digital tools to manage product flows and coordinate a large number of stakeholders.
To address this, EPAM experts developed the “Digital FoodBank” IT platform, which automates request processing, assists in demand planning, monitors inventory levels, and coordinates the volume of humanitarian shipments. This enhances the transparency, efficiency, and scalability of the system while reducing the operational burden on the foundation’s staff.
At various stages of the project, 14 IT volunteers from EPAM Ukraine were involved in the development process. They spent about a year working on the solution—spanning from the initial discovery phase to final release and testing. Technologically, the platform is built entirely on Google Cloud Platform services, leveraging special terms provided for non-profit organizations. The architecture is optimized to keep the ongoing operational costs of the platform to a minimum for the foundation.
The backend of the system is built on reactive programming technologies, ensuring high-speed request processing. It utilizes cloud infrastructure where data is securely encrypted in accordance with strict requirements for confidential information protection. The system also features built-in machine learning algorithms for automated document processing. The client-side interface is optimized for rapid page loading and intuitive user data interaction, with the user interface and server-side processes deployed on separate, independent nodes in the cloud. The partners plan to continue optimizing the solution by adding new features to ensure the long-term sustainability of the system.
This collaboration serves as a prime example of how volunteer initiatives and modern technology can come together to address the country’s food security challenges.
About FoodBank Ukraine: FoodBank Ukraine was established in 2011 to implement the international food banking model. Since then, the organization has grown from a local initiative into a national coordination hub that unites businesses, charitable foundations, non-governmental organizations, logistics partners, and local communities.
Today, FoodBank Ukraine’s network spans more than 120 charitable and non-governmental organizations across 20 regions of the country. Through this system, assistance is regularly delivered to internally displaced persons (IDPs), the elderly, large families, residents of frontline and de-occupied territories, and other Ukrainians facing difficult life circumstances.
Based on the results of 2025, FoodBank Ukraine won the “Charitable Ukraine” national competition in the “Charity in Ecology and Environmental Protection” category and was recognized among the Top 100 Charitable Organizations in the country.
About EPAM Ukraine: EPAM Ukraine is a community of professionals providing business digitalization services leveraging cloud technologies and AI. Over 9,350 experts create innovative solutions for international clients and contribute to the digitalization of the state. The company is consistently ranked among the largest exporters, taxpayers, and most preferred employers in various Ukrainian rankings. On a global level, EPAM is recognized among the top 15 information technology services companies in the Fortune 1000 and is listed on the “100 Fastest-Growing Companies” list.
