Continuing its longstanding commitment to hunger relief, The Cheesecake Factory has introduced its Nourish Program exclusively utilizing Copia’s “zero food waste” technology platform to distribute food to those in need in the local community. The Nourish Program replaces the company’s previous food rescue program and has enabled The Cheesecake Factory restaurants to donate more than 400,000 pounds of food so far this year—twice the amount donated this time last year.

With an extensive menu that features more than 250 dishes—handmade, in-house with fresh ingredients—The Cheesecake Factory was previously unable to consistently find nonprofits that were equipped to receive all of the food donations it could offer.

Now the Nourish Program leverages the Copia mobile app to allow each restaurant to donate excess food when it’s most convenient for them and each donation is matched in real time to local nonprofits that need it most. Donations are picked up on demand and delivered directly to nonprofits through Copia’s integration with DoorDash, which is also the company’s exclusive national delivery provider, making it seamless for the restaurants and the nonprofits receiving the donation.

In addition to introducing the Nourish Program, this summer the company worked with Copia and DoorDash to deliver more than 20,000 meals to frontline healthcare workers and nonprofits in local communities that have been impacted by rising food insecurity due to COVID-19.