At Casinos of Winnipeg, our culinary team takes pride in creating memorable meals and hates to see its food go to waste. Thanks to La Tablée des Chefs, leftovers now serve a worthwhile purpose.
Founded in Quebec, La Tablée des Chefs is a nonprofit organization with an innovative food recovery program that connects surplus food donors and local community organizations across Canada. Its mission, in part, is to reduce food waste while addressing food insecurity.
Through this program, Casinos of Winnipeg partnered with Community Helpers Unite, an Indigenous led non-profit and social enterprise. Together, they recover freshly prepared meals from casino restaurants and banquets and deliver them to people in need.
“We’re so grateful that we are able to make a small difference in people’s lives through La Tablée des Chefs,” says Executive Chef Stephan Marchand, Club Regent Casino.
“The program runs so smoothly, it’s not any extra effort for our team to pack up the meals. And we feel good knowing Community Helpers will collect it, carefully process it, and deliver it to where it’s most needed.”
Community Helpers Unite (CHU) serves as La Tablée des Chefs’ distribution partner in Winnipeg. CHU works with several charitable agencies that deliver hot nutritious meals to marginalized and vulnerable community members, particularly in the city’s north end, Point Douglas, and downtown areas.
Casinos of Winnipeg joined the La Tablée des Chefs program in October 2025, after Alain Dumonceaux, Director of Food and Beverage and Events, attended a Tourism Winnipeg luncheon where La Tablée des Chefs’ founder Jean-François Archambault was a guest speaker.
“When Alain proposed the idea to our team, I honestly couldn’t think of a reason not to do it,” says Stephan. “It fits perfectly alongside our other sustainability initiatives like Fair Trade, sustainable fisheries products, and composting. And it’s something the entire team can feel proud to be part of.”
Le Tablée des Chefs provides the casino kitchens with aluminum trays, lids, and labels to make the food recovery seamless, along with application software to easily track the donated food.
“There’s no set amount we donate each month, it really depends on events and buffets,” Stephan explains. “Sometimes it’s just a few litres of soup that we’ll freeze until there’s enough for a pickup. Thankfully, freezer space here has never been an issue,” he laughs.
Since the partnership began, the casinos have already donated 6,233 servings of food, totaling 635 kilograms. “It’ll be exciting to see what we accomplish after a full year in the program,” Stephan says proudly.
Casinos of Winnipeg is just one of many food donors supporting Community Helpers Unite through La Tablée des Chefs’ program in Winnipeg, and according to CHU, the more partners the better.
“We’re thrilled to have Casinos of Winnipeg join us on the La Tablée program,” says Brandy Bobier, Executive Director at Community Helpers Unite. “The more hospitality partners we can connect with, the more people we can help.”
Brandy emphasizes that CHU’s approach is rooted in dignity and accessibility. “No stigma, no barriers, we simply feed people who are hungry due to a variety of reasons.”
Beyond supporting food insecurity, the program also plays a key role in environmental sustainability.
Over this past year alone, Community Helpers Unite helped divert 4.3 million pounds of food to its partner agencies in Winnipeg and area, which otherwise would have gone into compost or landfill.
Now in its fifth year, CHU continues to grow its operations in Winnipeg, employing 38 staff and working with 30 to 40 volunteers. Its for-profit catering operations pays for salaries and operational costs. Last summer, the province contracted CHU to provide meals for thousands of evacuees displaced by the Manitoba wildfires.
Together, Casinos of Winnipeg, Community Helpers Unite, and La Tablée des Chefs are proving their partnership can transform surplus food into hope – one meal at a time.
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