New moves to help struggling families

Kiwiharvest is launching two new initiatives aimed at helping to feed and educate families. Photo / supplied

Thousands of people who are facing financial hardship will benefit from two new initiatives by one of the country's largest food charities.

Meal kit provider HelloFresh has responded to growing concern about 'food security' by donating $70,000 to national food rescue charity KiwiHarvest, to help launch the two new community initiatives, including an expansion programme that will take food bank services to a number of higher-deprivation regions nationwide.

The expansion of the national network is seen as a key step in ensuring food charity recipients are provided with nutritional diversity, which is not always accessible in remote areas.

KiwiHarvest, which has delivered 14.6 million meals to New Zealand families over the last nine years, will also launch a new programme aimed at educating consumers on the impact of food waste, and inspiring them to make small changes to their daily habits.

Programme Whakaako (to educate) will travel throughout the country this year, helping to raise awareness at 20 key public events such as expos, food shows, conferences, agricultural and climate change events. The charity will deliver talks, information packs and displays on food waste and food security, as well as providing free 'rescued' food to thousands of people from a new promotional education trailer that will visit businesses and schools.

Meanwhile Project A-Rohe will see KiwiHarvest expand its distribution network to include areas that are currently out of reach of a suitable food hub. The goal is to deliver an additional 450 tonnes of food to remote areas of in regions from Northland to parts of Southland.

KiwiHarvest general manager Blandina Diamond said almost two million New Zealanders were experiencing low to moderate food security during the Covid-19 pandemic, while HelloFresh had been a substantial and long-standing food donor to the organisation.

"KiwiHarvest's ability to expand our services to reach further, rescue more food and positively impact our communities is reliant on financial support and donations from organisations that are socially and climate-conscious, and HelloFresh is such a shining example in both of these spaces," she said.

"This financial donation takes our collaboration to a new level, and we are so grateful for our growing relationship."

HelloFresh New Zealand CEO Tom Rutledge said his company valued the importance of reducing food waste, and admired the work of KiwiHarvest.

"We're pleased to be able to support the incredible work done by KiwiHarvest, which is close to our heart, sharing an aligned goal of our business to reduce food waste and play a role in these important initiatives, which will have long term benefits for our communities," he said.

HelloFresh was also donating $30,000 to NZ Food Network, KiwiHarvest's sister organisation, to support its operations across the country.