El Pollo Loco Leads Company-Wide Effort to Donate Surplus Food

COSTA MESA, Calif., Sept. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- El Pollo Loco, Inc. ("El Pollo Loco" or "Company") (Nasdaq: LOCO), the nation's leading fire-grilled chicken chain, today announced its commitment to the communities it serves through a new company-wide food donation program, Pollo with Purpose. In partnership with Food Donation Connection, El Pollo Loco plans to donate 500,000 pounds of surplus food to more than 200 local charities annually.

The initiative, which is intended to grow over the next three years, is just one of the many ways El Pollo Loco is giving back to the people and communities that it serves. In its first year, the Pollo with Purpose program will be able to feed more than 450 individuals in need, three meals a day for a year. That amounts to over 4,300 meals per year for each family and 1.5 million pounds donated by 2022. 

"The communities we serve have become our family, and we want to make an ongoing positive impact by providing nourishing food to those in need," said Bernard Acoca, President and Chief Executive Officer at El Pollo Loco. "We live our company values by making a difference and look forward to expanding the program over the next few years."  

The benefits of the Pollo with Purpose program go beyond donating meals to people in need. With 62.5 million tons of wasted food per year¹, the program will help with waste reduction by diverting food surplus from landfills. It also creates an opportunity to bring EL Pollo Loco employees and franchisees together to recognize and support the importance of serving our community.

"We commend El Pollo Loco for making great strides to combat hunger," said Jim Larson, Vice President of Development at Food Donation Connection. "We are thrilled to collaborate with them on this incredible effort and believe it will make a tremendous contribution to our vision to let nothing be wasted." 

To learn more about Pollo with Purpose, a video about the program can be viewed here.

Footnote:

¹"Safe, Surplus Food Donation Toolkit", California Environmental Health Department, January 2018.

About El Pollo Loco

El Pollo Loco LOCO is the nation's leading fire-grilled chicken restaurant with a mission to bring people together around food, family and culture in the communities it serves. El Pollo Loco is renowned for its handcrafted L.A. Mex food, an innovative blend of traditional Mexican cuisine and better-for-you eating, that Los Angeles is known for. Since 1980, El Pollo Loco has successfully opened and maintained more than 480 company-owned and franchised restaurants in Arizona, California, Nevada, Texas, Utah, and Louisiana while remaining true to its Mexican-American heritage. El Pollo Loco continues to grow and evolve, nourishing connections to tradition, culture and one another through fire-grilled goodness that makes us feel like familia. For more information, visit us at www.elpolloloco.com.

About Food Donation Connection

Food Donation Connection is the world's largest coordinator of surplus prepared food donations. Since FDC's genesis with Pizza Hut in 1992, the program has grown to hundreds of partner companies operating 17,000 donating locations in North America, Europe, Asia, and South America that provide nutritious surplus food to more than 9,000 charities feeding those in need. In 25 years of growth, FDC has become the prepared food donation industry leader in the areas of donation logistics, tax incentives, and food safety. For more information, visit www.foodtodonate.com.



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