Roti Bank : A Journey from a Vision to a Revolution

It all began with the vision of Mr. D. Sivanandhan, former Police Commissioner of Mumbai, who believed that hunger was a primary driver behind the crimes. After retiring, he brought his vision into execution by starting Mumbai Roti Bank in December 2017. Roti Bank is a non-profit, food rescue organization that bridges the gap between hunger and excess food which is both nutritious and safe to eat but is thrown away by restaurants, hotels, and parties. Roti Bank provides a solution to prevent this food wastage by collecting all this good quality excess food and distributing it to people who are in need of basic nutrition.

What started as a small operation with a network of a few vans and restaurants has now become a full-fledged revolution. Along with Mumbai Branch, Roti bank has increased its reach and expanded to the cities of Nagpur, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Chennai, and recently to Ahmedabad. Roti Bank has distributed over 7.33 million meals so far across all branches out of which 6.29 million meals were distributed in Mumbai alone.

Along with partner restaurants, Roti Bank now has their own mega kitchen with advanced equipment to produce large volumes of food. Its mega Kitchen is capable of making tens of thousands of meals each day which are then distributed by its delivery network. During the Covid-19 crisis, Roti Bank partnered with several organizations and police networks to distribute not just food but also safety kits, masks, and other essentials. Roti Bank also conducts several special programs to spread awareness about fighting world hunger. “We believe that we all have to join our forces if we wish to eliminate World Hunger once and for all,” says Mr.D. Sivanandhan.

Roti Bank Mumbai aims to serve more people in need, especially school-age children, and provide a meal at every family’s table.