Around 571,000 tonnes of food waste are generated each year. Of the food waste destined for landfill, around 60% is edible.

Aotearoa Food Rescue Alliance (AFRA) provides national support for 35 local food rescue organisations who work hard to reduce this waste by redirecting food into communities in need.

In the two years since January 2021, AFRA members have rescued 15.5 million kgs of food and distributed the equivalent of 56 million meals, avoiding 41 thousand tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions.

We have funded AFRA since 2021 to complete their Data Impact Project, including a platform that enables members to capture standardised data about incoming and outgoing food and waste.

Insights from this data have enabled members to improve their operations, as well as stronger advocacy for greater government support for the national food rescue sector. We continue to be impressed by AFRA’s commitment to understanding their social and environmental impact, and — in delivering this project — building the data capability amongst members.