“Breaking this world record is not only about the accolades; it’s about all the people who we will be able to feed from these cans of food, and it’s about us bringing our fight against hunger into the spotlight.” – Ladles of Love Founder
Cape Town, South Africa (30 August 2021) – Ladles of Love has obliterated the Guinness World Record for the longest line of food cans at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.
The local food-security charity laid 90,450 cans over a 6,7km distance, breaking a Canadian-held record of 44,966 cans. The tinned food will be distributed to the 250-strong soup kitchens that help the organisation distribute cooked, nutritious meals to vulnerable community members.
In July 2014, Diliberto, with the help of a chef and some volunteers, started cooking pots of soup every Tuesday from the restaurant he co-founded, Doppio Zero in St Georges Mall.
After a breathing and meditation course it all “clicked into place,” he said. “I decided to start serving the homeless community from my restaurant.”
Over the next five years, the organisation grew. With the help of schools and other soup kitchens, food would be served four times a week in the city centre. By March 2020, Ladles would be serving about 14,000 meals a month. And then COVID-19 hit.
This was when Diliberto started aiming to beat World Records while still feeding the nation!
Last year, Ladles of Love broke the world record for the most sandwiches made in one hour. Volunteers from across the peninsula showed incredible generosity of spirit, and a mind-boggling 304,000 homemade sandwiches were made in one hour, which was then distributed to communities in need. To put this milestone in perspective, 2 million sarmies is equal to 280kms (based on an average slice of bread at 14cm) 2 million sarmies in metres is 257 times the height of Table Mountain, 50 times as tall as a Kilimanjaro, and 50,000 times as tall as a giraffe.
And for 2021, the organisation decided to take on the Guinness World Record for the longest line of food cans!
The Canadian-held record was 3,28 km for 44,966 cans. Ladles of Love target was 90,000 cans measuring 6,7 km long. The public was encouraged to use their 67 minutes for Nelson Mandela to help raise the food cans needed to not only break the Guinness World Record but break hunger around the peninsula!
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Danny Diliberto, Ladles of Love Founder says, “This has been an incredible day – for our volunteers, supporters, and sponsors! People have rallied behind us once again, and we managed to collect a mind-boggling 90,000 cans of food. But breaking this world record is not only about the accolades; it’s about all the people who we will be able to feed from these cans of food, and it’s about us bringing our fight against hunger into the spotlight. We have just served over 20 million meals since lockdown 2020, so the need is still enormous.”
Along with members of the public, corporate South Africa also stepped in to help the organisation break this record.
Wendy Bergsteedt, Group Head of Marketing and CSI champion at Coronation Fund Managers says, “It’s been an absolute honour to partner with Ladles of Love in collecting over 90,000 food cans to feed those in need. Today we came together as a community to smash the Guinness World Record for the longest line of food cans for a good cause, again showing the world that South Africa is a caring nation that can unite to bring hope in moments of crisis. Over 30 million people in South Africa live in poverty, and this was just one of our initiatives that contribute to supporting food vulnerable people in our country – we remain committed to the cause for the long term.”
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