Pakistan wastes 36 million tons of food each year, with a significant portion being wasted during Ramadan, despite high levels of hunger in the country. According to the WFP, 49 million people in Pakistan face food insecurity. Shan Foods, a brand that is committed to nutrition and accessibility to food, wanted to use its social and digital platforms to not only spread awareness about this situation, but also to actively help reduce food wastage and start a movement to donate food to those who need it.

The average cooking show wastes a great deal of food in its production - so Shan Foods launched a cooking show that was unlike any ever: one that featured no food at all. Introducing the Foodless Cooking Show - instead of cooking up a storm, the segment showcased empty containers and invisible food that the chef was using to cook the meal. Not only did Shan Foods manage to create a show with zero food wastage, it donated what it would have used in the show to charity programs.

Shan Foods targeted the month that data showed was the largest contributor to food wastage in the country: Ramadan. Utilizing the platform of popular cooking shows during that month, Shan Foods knew that it would have a large following tuning in.

Our target was not only stay-at-home women who are major fans of cooking shows, but also young adults who live alone and seek cooking tips and ideas from such shows.

We intended to not only raise awareness of food wastage through the show, but actively call for food donations of food that remained after Ramadan feasts.

Viewers tuned in to watch what was seemingly a regular cooking show, hosted by popular celebrity chef George Fulton. The recipe was a popular one too, carefully picked to reflect the vast number of ingredients it uses. As George went about narrating the recipe, it dawned on the audience that there were no ingredients. George was preparing the meal with invisible food, it seemed. Invisible onions were chopped, invisible tomatoes stirred in the pan, and finally an invisible dish was presented to viewers. George finally revealed the message: cooking shows waste a lot of food, as do Ramadan feasts, and this show chose to save food and donate it to those who need it.

The show was embedded online on multiple social channels amongst several other cooking shows during the month of Ramadan.

The Foodless Cooking Show segment, with more than 100,000 post engagements, managed to grab more views than any cooking show segment that Shan Foods had done previously, with more than a million reach. It took over social and digital conversations around Pakistan, bringing the food wastage issue to the table, that too during Ramadan when the airwaves are cluttered with messages on food.

Thanks to the show, the brand managed to collect and sponsor meals that fed 26,000 people. The campaign also managed to provide daily meals to 230 school children. This thought-provoking initiative not just raised awareness, but also made a tangible impact in reducing hunger.