The joint project between Costa Cruises and food-bank charity Fondazione Banco Alimentare Onlus to recover surplus foods is evolving, according to a statement from the cruise line.

An expanded relationship now sees surplus food not served aboard the Costa Diadema going to a local group in Rome that helps disadvantaged young people, Costa said.

Five months after the program began in Savona, Costa said over 8,500 people in need have been fed. That number will only go up as the program continues in Savona and is expanded to Rome.

“From now on another 36 young people will benefit from very high-quality dishes, based both in taste and also nutritional value: this initiative makes us proud and repays all the efforts made to achieve this excellent result. We are ready to implement next steps of this important project, hoping that it will involve soon also the port of Palermo,” said Marco Lucchini, general manager, Fondazione Banco Alimentare Onlus.

“Today marks another step forward in our drive against food waste. We began in Savona last summer, and now, by extending the program to Civitavecchia, we are giving a concrete sign of our commitment to roll it out to other Italian ports. We are very proud of this initiative, which is a world first in the cruise sector, and it has only been possible thanks to our partner Banco Alimentare. We will keep working to extend the program to other ships in the Costa fleet and to other Mediterranean ports of call,” said Giuseppe Carino, Vice President Guest Experience at Costa Cruises.

Deployed year-round in the Mediterranean, the Diadema calls in Rome (Civitavecchia) on Fridays. The day prior, all ready-to-eat dishes prepared in the restaurant areas but not served to guests will be collected, the company said.

The meals will be placed in aluminum containers, which are then sealed, labeled and kept in on-board refrigerators.

The next morning, after the ship moors in Civitavecchia, the containers will be unloaded and delivered to Banco Alimentare volunteers, who will take them to the charity La Repubblica dei Ragazzi, a community on the Aurelia road in Civitavecchia that provides support and education for young people.