“We Appreciate the Blessing” Campaign Continues During the Holy Month of Ramadan

The National Initiative to Reduce Food Loss and Waste “Naama” announced the continuation of its “We Appreciate the Blessing” campaign during the holy month of Ramadan, which aims to promote the concept of responsible consumption and encourage food practices during the holy month.

“Naama” calls on individuals, families and companies to make informed decisions when shopping and cooking for Ramadan family occasions, stressing the importance of taking advantage of this opportunity to increase gratitude and achieve balance.

The initiative also highlights the importance of reviving the ancestral customs of preserving resources, through conscious interaction with food, considering it a blessing that must be respected and appreciated.

The campaign aims to raise awareness about saving and redistributing surplus food, in addition to reducing waste through community initiatives. The campaign also contributes to supporting the UAE’s goal of reducing food loss and waste by 50% by 2030.

Through community initiatives, as well as supporting the UAE’s goal of reducing food loss and waste by half by 2030.

One Million Surplus Meals

The “Naama” initiative continues to collaborate with key partners in the country’s food system to raise awareness, ensure that surplus food is saved, and redistributed effectively. One of the campaign’s most prominent activities is Naama’s sponsorship of the “Providing One Million Surplus Meals” initiative, a comprehensive effort to recover and distribute edible surplus food, in cooperation with the UAE Food Bank and the Reloop app, which relies on engaging hotels and the hospitality sector.

The initiative also includes recycling food waste, by collecting non-edible waste for use in composting, in support of the circular economy. The campaign will also seek to engage more than 75 hotels in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah to collect structured data to measure their impact on reducing food waste.

Smart Community Fridges

During Ramadan, Ne’ma will expand the scope of Ne’ma Community Fridges, in collaboration with the hotel, restaurant, café and tech startup sector, to place these fridges in high-demand areas to ensure the safe redistribution of surplus food, in several locations in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The initiative also includes training kitchen and hospitality staff on how to package meals, and setting up an organised collection and distribution system to ensure efficiency and food safety.

Family Iftar Box

Ne’ma is relaunching the Family Iftar Box in Ramadan 2025, in partnership with Takatof, the leading volunteering programme of the Emirates Foundation. The Family Iftar Box initiative aims to rescue surplus food from food distributors, retailers and farmers in collaboration with volunteers, who will pack and distribute the boxes across Abu Dhabi, Al Dhafra, Al Ain, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah, ensuring that high-quality surplus food reaches deserving families. The initiative is a true social responsibility opportunity, allowing companies to participate through food donations, sponsorships and corporate volunteering.

Kholood Hassan Al Nowais, Chief Sustainability Officer at Emirates Foundation and Secretary General of the Neema Initiative Committee, said: “Ramadan is a time to practice generosity, gratitude and shared responsibility. By honoring our deep-rooted traditions and the values ​​of our ancestors, by taking real steps to rescue food, reduce waste and ensure responsible food consumption by making conscious choices when shopping and cooking during the holy month, and through social responsibility and working hand in hand, we can move closer to achieving our goal of becoming a nation without food waste.”

The new initiative builds on the success of the “Preserve Grace, It is Permanent for Those Who Preserve It” initiative launched last year, which took a practical approach to saving and redistributing food, in addition to ongoing efforts to reduce waste. By integrating data-driven strategies, expanding partnerships, and recruiting volunteers, the “Appreciate Grace” campaign aims to drive long-term behavioral change and enhance the UAE’s leadership in food sustainability.

The campaign also represents a unified effort towards achieving the goal of preventing food from reaching landfills during Ramadan and beyond. The “Appreciate Grace” campaign is in line with the announcement of the “Year of the Community” in the UAE under the slogan “Hand in Hand”, in a national initiative to build a cohesive and prosperous society.

By integrating data-driven strategies, expanding partnerships, and recruiting volunteers, the “Appreciate Grace” campaign aims to drive long-term behavioral change and enhance the UAE’s leadership in food sustainability. The campaign also represents a unified effort towards achieving the goal of preventing food from reaching landfills during Ramadan and beyond.