Wanis International Foods, a leading East London based, food wholesaler has been honoured with a Business Champions Awards for its community and charity work. The award was presented by BBC news legend Huw Edwards.
Trading for nearly six decades, Wanis has been recognised for their strong record of charitable and philanthropic work locally, nationally and internationally which includes;
- Supporting food banks across London.
- Donating fresh water pumps in Pakistan.
- Supporting Birmingham based charity, Prison Link.
- Supporting schools in Central Village, Jamaica.
- Partnering with the NHS Blood Service to encourage blood and organ donation within Black and Asian communities.
With over 800 applicants to this year’s awards, Wanis had to beat off stiff competition to snag the prestigious gong. Having grown from humble beginnings the company was founded in 1964 as small retail outlet by Tulsidas Wadhwani (aka Mr Wani), who was asked to source hard-to-find foods from ‘back home’ by his customers, many of whom were members of London’s new immigrant communities from South Asia, Caribbean and African communities.
Wanis is now a leading importer and distributor of food and drink from around the world; operating from two sites and with annual revenues in excess of £100m. Still a family-owned company, Wanis supplies brands such as Tropical Sun to supermarkets, independent retailers, wholesalers, restaurants and take aways throughout the UK. They also export to more than 35 markets across Europe, West Africa, the USA and the Middle East and were recognised for their work in international trade last year when they were awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise.
Paul Harrison, Head of Community said: “It’s an honour and a privilege to receive this amazing award and be recognised for the work we do in all the communities we serve. As a food company, we’re in a unique position to make tangible change; we strive to harness the power that food has to bring people together.”
Wanis Director, Kapil Wadwani said: “We’re all really thrilled to receive this award. Our community work means a lot to all the Wanis family, so it’s amazing to be recognised.”
Saira Begum, the founder of PL84U, an interfaith charity that Wanis supports said: “Congratulations to Wanis on their well-deserved Community Award. Their support has proven invaluable to PL84U AL-SUFFA and the wider community and we look forward to our long and fruitful partnership.”
Some of the charities Wanis have supported:
PL84U AL-SUFFA:
An inter-faith approach to tackling poverty, cultural deprivation and isolation in Waltham Forest; PL84U provide hot meals, companionship, food and clothes to the elderly, homeless and those in need. In 2022 the charity was praised for its ‘remarkable work’ by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Wanis provides a monthly budget for the food bank to shop at their cash and carry in addition to providing ancillary support such as marketing and public relations.
Peckham Pantry
Peckham Pantry is a member of Your Local Pantries – a network that is improving the everyday lives of over 90,000 people in over 80 neighbourhoods across the UK. By bringing people together around food they seek to soften the blow of high living costs while providing ‘dignity and choice’. They operate a membership scheme, which gives access to fresh fruit and veg and store cupboard favourites for £4.50 per shop. Wanis gift Peckham Pantry with a monthly budget, which allows them to shop for items they need at the East London cash and carry.
Made In Hackney
Made In Hackney believes in a world where everyone has access to nutritious food and plant-centred diets can support healthy eco-systems that allow people, planet, and animals to thrive. They believe that by bringing communities together using the power of plants they can help to tackle health inequalities, food access and the climate crisis. Each week they prepare over 1200 culturally varied plant-based meals and provide workshops to teach food growing and cooking skills. Wanis gift Peckham Pantry with a monthly budget, which allows them to shop for items they need at the East London cash and carry.
White Marl Primary and Jose Marty Technical High Schools in Central Village, Jamaica
Wanis owned brand Tropical Sun work with a partner factory in Central Village, Jamaica, which produces many of their Jamaican products such as their jerk seasoning. Many of the workers at the factory have children, which attend the local schools. Wanis have supported the schools in many ways over the years including building and refurbishing infrastructure. During the pandemic they donated IT equipment and laptops to facilitate remote learning.
Friends of Charity International
In 2022 Wanis donated 75 pumps via Friends of Charity International to help people in rural areas of Pakistan get access to safe and clean drinking water.
Prison Link
Birmingham based, Prison Link are a volunteer-lead, non-profit charity working with offenders and their families to reduce the likelihood of reoffence, taking a compassionate approach to justice, building bridges and not walls. Wanis provides financial donations in addition to ancillary support including the design and build of their website.
NHS Blood Service
The NHS needs to increase the number of Black people who donate blood because Black donors are ten times more likely to have the Ro and B positive blood types urgently needed to treat the 15,000 people in the UK suffering from sickle cell disease. To get the best treatment, patients need blood, which is closely matched to their own. This is most likely to come from a donor of the same ethnicity. Yet only 1% of current blood donors are Black. Wanis owned brand, Tropical Sun, partnered with the NHS during the Covid pandemic, when lockdowns impacted blood donations to encourage blood donation, particularly within the Black community. They also worked to encourage conversations around organ donation within Black and South Asian communities by recruiting celebrities and influencers to amplify messaging and produce video content as well as putting info-stickers on tens of thousands of packets of rice to reach right into people’s homes.
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