ONCE AGAIN, OUR GENEROUS FOOD AND GROCERY DONORS CAME TO THE RESCUE OF COMMUNITIES IN CRISIS.

Sourcing fresh, healthy food for vulnerable people across Victoria is what we do - day in, day out. While there are always challenges and setbacks given the unpredictable nature of food production, this was a year like no other.

Ensuring continuous supply of fresh produce at the scale required to meet demand stretched not only our teams, but those we rely on to help feed Victorians. Fortunately, the relationships we’ve forged with empathetic organisations across the supply chain who help us source, rescue and redistribute food proved to be remarkably resilient.

Despite unprecedented floods, labour shortages and petrol prices this year, our generous farmers and growers, wholesalers and food manufacturers kept our warehouse shelves and fridges stocked with quality food. Thanks to them, we could keep feeding communities in crisis across the state and throughout the year.

In total, our 368 local donors provided 4.4 million kilos of fresh, frozen, and staple foods as well as household products and personal care items – an increase of 14.4% on the year before.

MEET ONE OF OUR FOOD DONORS: HARVEST MOON

Werribee based food producer Harvest Moon supplies over 90,000 tonnes of fruit and vegetables to supermarkets in Australia and internationally. When their pumpkins become discoloured, or celery is damaged, these perfectly edible vegetables can’t be sold through retailers.

Nathan and the Harvest Moon team work with Foodbank to ensure that fresh produce like this makes its way directly to our warehouse. While considered not quite right for supermarkets, these ‘ugly’ fresh foods are packed with nutrition and we’re proud to distribute food of this quality to people in need.

We also worked with 85 national donors who contributed 7.3 million kilos to help us put food on tables.

While community-led food drives were paused during lockdowns, we were grateful to receive an additional 73,376 kilograms of donated food and groceries from schools and community groups. An incredible 152% more than last year!

COVID-19 RESPONSE: DRIVE THRU