On the afternoon of April 13, 2026, more than 500 people lined up outside Food Angel’s community centre in Sham Shui Po for a free dinner. The line included elderly residents, low-income families and people in acute need. As demand grows across Hong Kong, food insecurity is spreading beyond the city’s poorest pockets.
Hunger in Hong Kong is no longer a fringe issue. Oxfam estimates that more than 1.39 million people were living in poverty in the first quarter of 2024. It also put the income gap between the richest and poorest deciles at 81.9 times. Yet the city still sends about 3,400 tonnes of food to landfills each day. Food waste and food insecurity now sit side by side. That tension is pushing food-rescue groups to work against tight deadlines and strict safety rules. They must turn surplus into meals before it expires.
This story looks at two organisations using different models to close Hong Kong’s food gap. Foodlink, founded in 2001, works as a logistics bridge. It collects surplus from hotels, restaurants and events, then delivers it to partner groups such as elderly centres and orphanages, for reheating or distribution. Foodlink says that by 2026 it distributes about 1.6 million meal portions a year, rescues 665 tonnes of food annually and avoids 1,250 tonnes of carbon emissions. Food Angel, founded in 2011, converts surplus into hot meals and specialised “care food.” It mainly serves individuals, including low-income elderly people and patients with chronic illnesses. Food Angel says that in 2026 it recovers about 35 tonnes of food a week and distributes more than 25,000 meal portions a day. It also provides about 5,000 community meals and food packs daily.
Foodlink and Food Angel both rely on the food industry to provide “unsold but still edible” stock, an inherently uncertain supply. In the past, Foodlink depended on steady donations from hotels and large catering operators, including Welcome, JW Marriott, and Hong Kong Disneyland. After the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, hygiene concerns rose. Risk contorls tightened and business downsizing led to a sharp drop in donations in 2026. That left far less room for error in food recovery and redistribution.
“Donations have definitely fallen, and we can no longer meet everyone’s needs,” said Alex Au, Foodlink’s operations manager. The pressure, he added, is not only about volume but also “time.” Teams must sort and repack bread, chilled items and packaged foods quickly. They have to stay within shelf-life limits and food-safety rules. Partners then need enough time to store, reheat or distribute the food safely.
Foodlink functions as a logistics and matching platform. It assesses partners’ storage, cooking and distribution capacity. It then allocates food based on type and the needs of recipients. Before assigning supplies, Au said, the team conducts site visits. Staple ingredients suitable for cooking are prioritised for elderly care organisations, while snack items are more often sent to groups serving children. Although Foodlink’s network spans all 18 districts, demand is heavily concentrated in low-income neighbourhoods such as Kwun Tong and Sham Shui Po. “Our coverage is wide, but in some elderlycommunities in places like Kwun Tong, we still can’t fully meet their needs,” said Mr Cheung, a frontline Foodlink volunteer.
Lu Peiyi, a professor in the University of Hong Kong’s Department of Social Work and Social Administration, said demand in these ageing neighbourhoods is highest among women, elderlies, those with lower levels of education and low-wage workers. Overcrowded living conditions and high rents make it harder for residents to choose healthier food, she added, reinforcing a vicious cycle. Many of these areas are also physically and socially hard to access, making food assistance more difficult. Au said many people in vulnerable groups are reluctant to accept help “because of dignity.” “That’s why we have to spend more time building trust, so they understand this isn’t charity,” he added.
Hong Kong government figures show that, following policy interventions, the overall poverty rate has fallen from 23.6% to 14.9%. Yet frontline groups say demand for food assistance has not declined in step.
Food Angel
Food Angel turns surplus ingredients into hot meals. Its main recipients are older people, especially those living alone, with limited mobility or in need of care. “Hot meals are different from bread, snacks and other ultra-processed foods,” said Janice Wong, Food Angel
Food Angel relies on stable kitchen capacity and staffing. It also runs strict food-safety controls, including compliance with the ISO 22000 food safety management system. Its Food Angel Jockey Club Food Production Centre in Sha Tin is set to begin operations in the first half of 2026. The facility will consolidate four kitchens, including its main Sham Shui Po kitchen, into a single central hub. Daily output is expected to rise from about 20,000 meals to about 25,000. Logistics, delivery and cold-chain management are also set to improve.
Food Angel has also expanded meal options to very old and older patients with chronic illnesses, including “care food” designed for those with swallowing or chewing difficulties, such as steamed egg with vermicelli and steamed fish slices with soy sauce. Katrina Cheng, an assistant manager at Food Angel, said the meals are for people who “cannot safely eat a standard diet.” With Hong Kong’s population ageing, demand for such meals is increasing.
Through partner networks and home deliveries, Food Angel distributes pre-cooked warm meals. Its service area covers older districts such as Sham Shui Po and Tsing Yi and extends to outlying areas including Sha Tau Kok, aiming to support people with limited mobility. Chan Yiu-kok, an 80-year-old recipient in Sha Tau Kok, said the biggest benefit of regular deliveries is a sense of certainty “I know I’ll have food every day, so I can plan the week ahead.”
Delivery work involves far more than leaving food at the door. A frontline worker, Shum Yuk-ha, said long corridors and severe weather can slow routes. “Once it rains, everything gets delayed,” she said. Still, she added, residents’ thanks at the door make the effort feel worthwhile.
Yet an Oxfam report said that as of the first quarter of 2026, nearly one in three elderly people in Hong Kong still faced food shortages. More than 96% of elderly poor were not economically active, and 45% of elderly households lived in poverty. Census and Statistics Department’s Hong Kong projected that the population aged 65 and above would rise from 1.45 million in 2021 to 2.74 million in 2046, nearly doubling. The trend is intensifying concern over food insecurity among the elderly.
The growing gap is increasing pressure on Food Angel. “We’re doing everything we can, but the demand is enormous,” said Cheng. “Across Hong Kong, around 300,000 poor elderly households still need support.”
Lu voiced similar concerns, saying NGOs such as Food Angel and Foodlink cannot resolve the crisis on their own. Whether it is Foodlink, which redistributes packaged foods across all 18 districts, or the smaller Food Angel, which focuses on hot meals for individuals, broader participation from government and communities is essential. She added that “existing welfare support only barely covers beneficiaries’ most basic living expenses.”
Looking ahead, Lu urged the government to increase funding for NGOs so they can scale up services. She also said public education matters. NGOs, she added, should coordinate outreach more closely. She cited school-based recruitment as one option to bring in more volunteers and widen public participation.
