MUMBAI: At cappuccino outlets near airport boarding gates, about 200 sandwiches, 100 rolls, 50 soft drinks and more are stacked in glass chillers every morning. If an aircraft is grounded and the flight delayed, the sandwiches fly off the shelf. But if a flight has been cancelled in advance and passengers don't turn up, footfalls dip and there are fewer takers for the morning grub.

The ebb and flow of passengers leads to a shortage of meals on some days and excess food with no takers on most days.

Which is why since the past many months, a food truck pulls into Mumbai and Delhi airports every day to take away the excess meals. TFS ( Travel Food Services ), the company that runs 70 restaurants, lounges and food and beverage outlets at Mumbai and Delhi airports, has tied up with an NGO, Feeding India, to donate unsold food from the two airports to the "hunger centres" of both these cities.

The initiative began in Mumbai in October last year and in Delhi in January. "We plan to expand the tie-up with Feeding India to airports in Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and Goa this year,'' said Gaurav Dewan, COO and business head, TFS. He said the company donates between 2,000 to 3,000 meals per month from these two airports.

At every airport, we cater to various flight times and various traffic peaks and off-peaks. Since there is no specific pattern to flight delays and cancellations, every day we end up with extra meals. We have been donating 1,000-1,500 meals per month from each of the two airports," Dewan said.

At the end of their shift, TFS employees carve out an extra half hour to personally contribute to this venture. "The food truck comes in the morning and sometimes in the evening too," he said.

Ankit Kawatra, founder of Feeding India, said, "Before we pick up the food, we ensure it is fresh and unused. There are certain quality checks like pH value that we take into consideration. Also, the beneficiary must be located within a radius of 5km so that transportation time is shorter and the food is consumed within 90 minutes."

Kawatra started the NGO in 2014, a product of an eventful evening - he was a guest at a lavish wedding where he learned from the caterer that food enough to feed thousands of people would be thrown away. Months later, he had quit his job at a global business advisory firm and Feeding India took off by tying up with restaurants and cafeterias. Airports came up on the hunger radar only last year.

"For decades, tonnes of cooked food from airport lounges and restaurants has been going into the bin. In western countries, it's the standard norm for airlines and airports to donate excess food. But there is a lack of awareness in India. With our partnership with Mumbai and Delhi airports, we hope to reach airlines too," he added.

After the food is tested and collected from airports, the NGO matches and puts together a balanced meal with curry, vegetable, rice, roti, one beverage and, on some days, desserts. "Food from TFS lounges is distributed to children who are not part of government schools or it goes to shelters and charitable schools with no access to mid-day meals ," he said.

"In Mumbai, the food is distributed to a welfare society in Goregaon. We put that place on our map after Mumbai airport came on board," said Kawatra. According to UN estimates, 40% of food produced in India - at different stages from harvesting to consumption - is either lost or wasted.

