We are proud to support our founding food hub, Kaibosh, through sharing bulk surplus donated food, so then they can deliver this food to the communities they serve.

Kaibosh is New Zealand’s first food rescue organisation, which now has three branches throughout the Wellington region. Its dedicated team of more than 270 volunteers serves communities throughout Wellington City, Hutt Valley, Kāpiti and Horowhenua, seven days a week.

Since its establishment in 2008, Kaibosh has delivered over 5 million meals to those who need it most, rescued over 1.8 million kgs of food, and reduced carbon emissions by over 665,000 kgs.

Kaibosh General Manager, Matt Dagger, says the NZFN offers food hubs such as Kaibosh the opportunity to reliably access large volumes of food that they wouldn’t be otherwise able to reach.

“The NZFN gives us, and the many groups that we support, the ability to receive food from outside our area and in large volumes to meet the growing need that we are experiencing and expect will continue to experience. This is an important development for us, especially in a COVID-19 environment, when we know that need will be great but are constrained by the food that we are able to physically rescue in our geographic locality.

“The NZFN have risen in exceptional circumstances to provide a service to many in our community who are, or will be, facing food insecurity. There is much uncertainty as to what the financial implications of COVID-19 will be in the months and years ahead, but the NZFN provides surety to food hubs and food banks around NZ that there will be an ongoing supply of quality food to assist us to reach the need that many will face in the years ahead.

“It is a practical and tangible solution, designed and implemented under unique circumstances, to solve the dual problems of food insecurity and needless food waste,” says Dagger.