The little time I had left in Ireland began to sink in today. We began the day like usual by getting a hearty breakfast. Then, off to the classroom to put together the final touches on my group’s presentation. Later in the day, we visited the company, FoodCloud. FoodCloud streams donations of excess food from supermarkets and other retailers, compiles them, and donates the goods to those in need, all in the name of sustainability and eliminating food waste.

As certain companies have inquired about our visits to other companies, they all have the same reaction when we mentioned that we have plans to visit FoodCloud. They all loved the work that FoodCloud was achieving and were both excited and jealous that we got to visit FoodCloud. To sum it up, there were high expectations for this visit. Well, FoodCloud delivered on these expectations. The visit was quite insightful and I learned much about the processes behind eliminating food waste and promoting sustainability.

I believe their business model is so successful because of the way they are benefitting both the environment and solving the world hunger crisis. The way that they can create a positive impact on both of these areas makes companies increasingly likely to work with FoodCloud. Many Irish companies will have the Potato Famine in mind when thinking of Food Cloud. In the time of the Potato Famine, the poor of Ireland could not afford to eat, due to the potato crop dying off from disease. If only FoodCloud was around to help eliminate the waste of those who had excess food, the course of Irish history would have been changed significantly. FoodCloud along with many other companies that we have visited are striving for constant improvement of their businesses through the use of innovative technology to ensure that a crisis like this will never happen again. Overall, many companies in Dublin, including FoodCloud, have sustainable practices that will ultimately better the environment as time goes on and more businesses realize the importance of sustainability.

Throughout the trip, the group has engaged on many team dynamics. Whether it be navigating to a site visit, walking through Dublin, or working in our project groups the team dynamic is especially beneficial in a foreign environment. The Irish way of business is a bit different than what we are used to which includes some last minute schedule changes. My greatest takeaway from working in these teams would be a greater sense of flexibility and going with the flow without panicking that the schedule is not exactly what was planned.