Rescuing Food

New Zealand industry generates more than 103,000 tonnes of food waste per year, and it is estimated that 60% of food going to landfill is edible. Burying food (and often its packaging) in landfill is an environmental disaster.

Not only does it needlessly contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, wasting food also means squandering the resources used to produce and transport that food, including water, land, energy, labour, and capital.

We work with food businesses, including supermarkets, wholesalers, producers, cafes, restaurants, and hotels, to rescue the good food that they are not able to sell – whether that is because of oversupply, damaged packaging, cancelled orders, mislabelling, or because the food is nearing its best before date or end of life.

KiwiHarvest rescues 80,000-100,000kgs of good quality surplus food every month, and diverts this back to people who are struggling across New Zealand.

Nourishing Communities

At the same time, 40% of New Zealanders experience low to moderate food security, and up to 305,000 Kiwi children are living in poverty.

Food is so often the starting point for social agencies working with their clients to break the cycle of need. Having KiwiHarvest deliver rescued food allows these agencies to concentrate on tackling their core issues, and re-focus their funding on programmes to help their clients.

The high quality, fresh food we provide offers more nutrition than the canned and dry goods that charities have traditionally been able to access, filling a gap for so many who are struggling to feed themselves and their families.

“KiwiHarvest’s help has enabled us to feed hundreds and hundreds of children and their families and ease the pressure on their limited financial resources. Working together we can make a difference and contribute to improving the wellbeing of New Zealanders.”

– Presbyterian Support Northern

Educate & Engage

We know that we can’t tackle these problems alone, and it is a vital part of our mission to increase awareness and engagement with the issues of food waste and food insecurity. These are issues that affect everyone, and that everyone can affect.

We deliver interactive presentations and workshops in schools, provide corporate engagement and team building opportunities through our Cooking for a Cause programme, and act as a voice for food waste and food insecurity issues at public events and in the media.

“Avoidable food waste costs the average Kiwi household $563 per year.”

Love Food Hate Waste, 2015

Smarter Business

No food business wants to waste food, but most do not have the systems or networks required to find suitable new homes for their excess produce. KiwiHarvest provides them with an easy and convenient solution.

As well as saving businesses money on disposal costs, improved employee and customer satisfaction and enhanced credibility from acting responsibility all increase an organisation’s productivity and reputation. Ultimately, communities are strengthened when individuals are healthy, and strong communities sustain local business.

What We Do