Twilio > Case Studies > World Central Kitchen's Innovative Use of IoT to Provide Meals During COVID-19

World Central Kitchen's Innovative Use of IoT to Provide Meals During COVID-19

Technology Category

Sensors - Flow Meters
Sensors - Liquid Detection Sensors

Applicable Industries

Cities & Municipalities
Food & Beverage

Applicable Functions

Logistics & Transportation
Procurement

Use Cases

Last Mile Delivery
Speech Recognition

Services

System Integration

About The Customer

World Central Kitchen (WCK) is a global non-profit organization founded by Chef José Andrés in 2010, following the devastating earthquake in Haiti. WCK's mission is to use the power of food to nourish communities and strengthen economies in times of need and beyond. The organization has grown to provide immediate food relief after disasters and strengthen local food systems throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. WCK has responded to disasters all over the world, serving more than 50 million meals to communities after both natural and man-made disasters. These include hurricanes in Central America and the Caribbean, wildfires in California, and earthquakes in Indonesia.

The Challenge

World Central Kitchen (WCK), a non-profit organization founded by Chef José Andrés, has been providing immediate food relief after disasters and strengthening local food systems throughout the Caribbean and Latin America since 2010. The organization has served over 50 million meals to communities affected by natural and man-made disasters worldwide. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, WCK faced a unique challenge. Unlike previous disasters where infrastructure was often destroyed, the pandemic left all infrastructure intact. WCK needed to figure out how to use this intact infrastructure to continue providing meals to communities in need. Additionally, the pandemic led to an economic crisis, resulting in a soaring number of families stating they did not have enough to eat. Food banks were seeing record-breaking lines, and food distributors were wasting food due to lack of sales.

The Solution

To tackle these challenges, WCK quickly adapted their approach. They initiated the 'Restaurants For The People' program, putting restaurants back to work by paying them to provide individual meals to people and families in need. To streamline this process, WCK partnered with Twilio to implement an SMS and voice solution. This system allowed households to connect directly to local restaurants in New York City, Chicago, and Washington DC, ensuring that families heavily impacted by COVID-19 could access fresh restaurant-prepared meals each day, without waiting in line. WCK also launched WCK Direct, a proactive approach to meet individuals' needs on a case-by-case basis. Using Twilio's Programmable Messaging and Programmable Voice, WCK created an inbound text and voice flow that allowed families to order meals from local restaurants, free of charge. The program was connected to WCK’s backend data storage and delivery APIs, like Postmates, to complete the final step of delivering hot meals to households.

Operational Impact

The implementation of Twilio's SMS and voice solution significantly improved WCK's operational efficiency and effectiveness. The system allowed WCK to quickly adapt to the unique challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling them to continue providing meals to communities in need while also supporting local restaurants. The proactive approach of WCK Direct, enabled by Twilio's technology, eliminated the need for families to wait in long lines for meals or fresh produce boxes. Instead, families could easily order meals from local restaurants, free of charge, and have them delivered to their homes. This not only provided food with dignity but also supported local businesses struggling during the pandemic. Furthermore, the WCK team sees potential to leverage the same tools to communicate with shelters on the ground during natural disasters, creating a two-way communication flow they did not have before.

Quantitative Benefit