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Pizza, too Good to Waste

Environmental Responsibility, Our Communities, Product Responsibility
Pizza, too Good to Waste

Denver Test Kitchen Pizzas Donated to Those in Need 

Since August 2023, Leprino has donated approximately 1,500 pizzas to community members experiencing food insecurity.

The pizzas, originally cooked in Leprino’s test kitchen for quality and food safety trials, were destined for disposal until  We Don’t Waste was identified as a partner. The organization recovers quality, unused food from manufacturers and restaurants and delivers it to non-profit partners such as community food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and schools.

In the first few months, approximately 450 cooked pizzas were packaged, frozen and donated. Fast forward to 2025, “pizza wrapping” is now a regular Friday afternoon volunteer activity at Leprino’s global headquarters in Denver. The number of pizzas donated have accelerated since the programs inception, volunteers have wrapped and donated approximately 1,500 pizzas, valued at $7,500, feeding more than 4,500 people experiencing food insecurity in the Denver community.

“Providing meals to community members facing food insecurity, rather than discarding these perfectly good pizzas, is rewarding,” stated Laura Elliott, Senior Communications Specialist at Leprino and pizza wrapping lead.

The donations also help reduce Leprino’s greenhouse gas emission footprint. More than 40 percent of all food in the U.S. goes unused, ending up in a landfill, decomposing and releasing methane which adds to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Leprino works to minimize its impact. Across all its US operations Leprino has a 99% landfill diversion rate.

  • Did you know Leprino’s Denver Office composts nearly 450 pounds of food ingredients each week? Read here to learn how this compost is repurposed as “pizza dirt” and distributed to employees for use in their home gardens.

Volunteers wrap pizzas for donation.