A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR AND CEO
THIS YEAR, WE EXPERIENCED WHAT OUR COMMUNITIES HAVE BEEN FEELING FIRST-HAND.
The last year has been as tough as any other, but with a new set of challenges to overcome – just as it was for the 69,000 Victorians we provided food to every day. The increased cost of living impacted every part of our supply and distribution chain. Our entire industry has been working under immense strain, and whilst we couldn’t fix every issue, we worked collaboratively to find new opportunities, new routes and new friends to help us get food to Victorians.
The charities we support are certainly feeling the pressure on the front line, with 95% of our partners reporting an increase in demand. Consecutive interest rate rises and ongoing inflation have forced more and more families to tighten their budgets and scratch essential items off their weekly grocery lists. Meanwhile, Foodbank has had to face the same challenge.
Our network of manufacturers, retailers, importers and suppliers are carrying less inventory, meaning we have had fewer opportunities to benefit from surplus food and stock. With less supply travelling through our warehouse, and more members of our community knocking on our door for help, we couldn’t rely on food donations as we have previously done to support the increasing needs of our charity network.
Behind the scenes, our team has established innovative solutions to stretch every dollar as far as it can possibly go. We’ve increased our purchasing of product and expanded our direct distribution through markets and food programs in partnership with community groups and local government.
As demand continues to climb, it’s never been more important for us to reach the right people, with the right food, at the right time.
It’s been challenging to witness so many Victorians relying on our support for the healthy food they so urgently need and deserve. Fortunately, our dedicated team of volunteers, staff and supporters have rallied together to expand our capacity to respond at scale.
It was an exciting moment to open the doors to our Community Food Centres in Ballarat and Morwell this year. These centres have already made a significant and measurable impact on the ability and capacity of our regional charity partners to support their local communities with fresh, chilled and frozen food.
Thanks to our Victorian Government partnership, we were grateful to receive the news that our School Breakfast Clubs Program will now be made available on request to all government funded school across the entire state. The rollout to all the new schools is expected to be complete by end of 2026.
As we endeavour to find more efficient and innovative ways to respond to the expanding needs of our communities, we are indebted to our supporters across government, corporate and philanthropic sectors as well as our individual donors – many of which have limited resources of their own. It is so humbling to have that support, trust and confidence driving us forward.
Finally, we could not do our work if it wasn’t for our incredibly capable and dedicated team of staff and volunteers. They believe whole heartedly in the future we are determined to create. One where all Victorians have access to healthy food.
Steve Audsley CHAIR, Foodbank Victoria
Dave McNamara CEO, Foodbank Victoria
OUR IMPACT
HERE’S WHAT GOES INTO HELPING PUT FOOD ON TABLES EACH YEAR!
People
Volunteers: 3,328
Volunteer Hours: 51,043
Staff: 130
Community Partners
Charities: 499
Schools: 1,000+
Generous Supporters
Our giving community
Our food donors Trusts and Foundations
Financial supporters and partners Victorian Government
Food out: 13.9 million kgs (of food and groceries) 25.1 million meals
OUR FOOD DONORS
FARMERS. GROWERS. FOOD MANUFACTURERS. WHOLESALERS. RETAILERS.
It really is a whole family of people right across our food supply chain keeping our warehouse shelves stocked with the staple pantry items and the fresh produce we need to feed more than 69,000 Victorians a day.
This past year, we’ve had to work even harder to maintain a continuous pipeline of donations.
We’re incredibly grateful for the generosity of our local food and grocery donors who collectively provided 5.9 million kilos of fresh, frozen and pantry staples to send out through our distribution channels this year. That’s an exceptional 17.3% increase from 22-23 – proving that we can continue to knock on the doors of our family of food donors and depend on them for help, even during difficult times.
FOOD
DONOR SPOTLIGHT
Purearth Foods
Got any milk? We’re lucky enough to have been able to say a resounding ‘yes’ to that question last year, thanks to our friends at Purearth Foods.
No matter your age, your household size or your background, milk is without a doubt one of the most in demand items across our Victorian communities in need. Full of nutrition, it’s at the top of many grocery lists for a reason - but it’s also one of the most difficult items for us to source. Fortunately, our friends at Purearth Foods have helped us with this challenge, providing us with an ongoing supply of a healthy range of milk products.
Interested in becoming a food donor? Please contact Foodbank Victoria’s Food Donor Team on: P: (03) 9362 8300 E: food@foodbankvictoria.org.au
“The Purearth team looks forward to continuing to work with the wonderful people
at Foodbank Victoria and supporting the important work they do in our communities.”
David Weber, Chief Executive Officer Purearth Foods
EMERGENCY RESPONSE
THESE PAST 12 MONTHS WE WERE WORKING THROUGH UNCHARTERED TERRITORY IN TERMS OF WHAT IS CONSIDERED AN ‘EMERGENCY’.
There was no smoke in the air, or floods destroying our beautiful parklands. Instead, Victorians were faced with an invisible disaster, which needed to be treated with as much urgency as a bushfire or flood, only this time, the emergency lasted all year long.
When there are no fires or oncein-a-lifetime flooding to be seen, many people in our community don’t feel comfortable raising their hand to ask for help. But the reality is, even without a natural disaster of those proportions, countless families throughout Victoria found themselves in a critical situation.
In the Christmas of 2023, we saw demand reach epic proportions, with even dual income families all over the state struggling to afford food. Working families couldn’t get to our charity partners, who often only operate Monday to Friday, 9 to 5. To reach those groups, we created after hours markets over the Christmas period, in the North, South, East and West of
More than
1,000 families attended the markets
Melbourne, providing an opportunity for working families and individuals to access the food they so urgently needed.
At these markets we were able to distribute enough food to create over 50,000 meals. There’s no end to the invisible disaster that’s continuing to devastate countless communities across Victoria – but we’re grateful to have been able to extend our support to these hard-working families, who are battling unfamiliar terrain themselves right now.
OUR CHARITY PARTNERS
OVERALL, WE DISTRIBUTED MORE THAN 9 MILLION KGS TO THE 499 CHARITIES WE SUPPORTED IN 23-24...
...The equivalent of 16.5 MILLION MEALS out to our community
From Neighbourhood houses to the Salvation Army, our charity partners are the barometer of fluctuations in demand. This year though, the end of fixed rate mortgages and rising rents exacerbated what were already historically high levels of demand on the front line, with many in our charity network simply overwhelmed by requests for food.
Direct reports from our charity partners show that many of their new clients have never needed to ask for support.
Meanwhile, it has been increasingly difficult to source the volume of food we need to meet rising demand, and there has been less food available for our team to rescue. Ongoing inflation has caused manufacturers, retailers, importers and suppliers to carry less stock, meaning the inventories our charity partners can access are slim. Far too slim to meet the growing demand they’re experiencing.
These challenges have been making it tough for everyone – right across our entire network. Despite this, much hard work by our food sourcing team has allowed us to keep our food volumes stable, so that we can continue providing healthy, fresh, quality products to our valued charity partners.
THE FEEL-GOOD FACTOR
Meet Our Volunteer Zara
Meet Zara, one of the many indispensable volunteers based out of our Brooklyn warehouse. Zara’s a certified foodie, with a passion for cooking flavour-packed, nutritious meals and she plans to open her very own community eatery one day. When she arrived in Melbourne, putting her hand up to volunteer for Foodbank felt like a no-brainer.
“I’ve always had a passion for cooking healthy food. That’s why I think Foodbank is a good fit for me, to get involved in my community and meet new people, working towards the same goal. It’s awesome.”
Something Zara didn’t anticipate when she put her hand up to volunteer? The sheer volume of food that passes through our warehouse each and every day, and what an impact that really has on the wider community, far beyond our warehouse doors.
“It’s hard to comprehend the amount of food you’re actually packing until you see the stats.”
OUR VOLUNTEERS
Ever wondered how we manage to feed over 69,000 Victorians every single day? Our volunteers - or as we affectionately call them, our ‘vollies’ – have been integral to this achievement. Over the year, we had 326 incredibly committed individuals show up to our warehouse on a weekly basis to lend us a hand. Combined, those regulars contributed 34,815 hours to our warehouse operations – packing orders, helping with our mobile food programs, and supporting our warehouse team.
As our operations grow, we’re continuing to develop new opportunities for our volunteers – including expanding our volunteer reach to regional Victoria this year, thanks to the opening of our brand-new Community Food Centres in Ballarat and Morwell. Here in Melbourne, we’ve been busy adding special touches
to programs operating out of our Brooklyn warehouse, which has been facilitating 100% volunteer-run programs since launching in January.
Our volunteers deliver more than an enthusiastic, can-do attitude to our workplace – they’re the force behind us reaching more Victorians doing it tough, year on year. We’re so grateful for everything that’s made possible thanks to their support.
“The impact is magnificent. Sometimes, you get caught up in the routine of packing orders and helping out in the warehouse, but when you zoom out and see the bigger picture – it’s so meaningful.”
OUR PEOPLE
YEAR
ON YEAR, IT’S OUR RESPONSIBILITY AS AN
ORGANISATION TO DEVELOP NEW INITIATIVES TO MEET DEMAND AS IT CONTINUES TO CLIMB.
This year – just like every year that came before it – we have an impressive team of people to thank for the innovative, impactful ways we supported our community in 2324. 130 of them!
As our team continues to grow, safety remains a top priority for us. These past 12 months, we’ve continued to refine our safety processes to guarantee our workplace remains a safe place for everyone. This has meant developing more structure, support and communication around our team’s health and
safety – including investing in new software for the safety of our visitors and contractors, as well as incident and hazard management. We’ve also established a team-led Safety Committee to ensure wellbeing remains at the forefront of our organisation’s initiatives.
This year, we were proud to achieve an engagement score of 83% amongst our teams – highlighting how proud our team members are to work at Foodbank Victoria, as we continue to work towards our purpose and ambitions as an organisation.
SCHOOL BREAKFAST CLUBS PROGRAM
IT’S BEEN ANOTHER BIG YEAR FOR THE SCHOOL BREAKFAST CLUBS PROGRAM.
The continued rise in the cost of living was felt by all. These past 12 months, we saw a significant increase in the need for support outside of breakfast, reflected in the distribution of 23,264 Home Food Packs – an 8.6% increase from 22-23. Our distribution of lunch items also surged by 21.9% compared to the previous year.
The School Breakfast Clubs program reached a significant milestone – with 40 million meals served! Alongside impressive numbers like this one, the value of the School Breakfast Clubs Program extends far beyond, providing far more than meals and filling tummies – it’s about nurturing wellbeing, fostering social connections, and creating opportunities for positive change.
So, we were thrilled to learn that our School Breakfast Clubs Program has received further funding from the Victorian Government, expanding its reach to EVERY government school who opts in across Victoria.
Our distribution of lunch items surged by 21.9%
A total of 23,264 Home Food Packs went home with students
To top it all off, we’ve officially served 40 million meals since launching the School Breakfast Clubs program!
“Thank you so much for this program, the impact it has on our school is immeasurable and continues to increase with each year.”
Bacchus Marsh Primary School
COOKING CLASSES
COOKING CLASSES WERE EXCEPTIONALLY
WELL RECEIVED BY SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES AGAIN THIS YEAR.
Through hands-on cooking experiences and the provision of free meals and hampers, the program fosters healthier habits and helps alleviate the strain on families facing financial challenges.
But Cooking Classes can also mean the difference between eating a meal that night or not. One family attending the classes at Dana Street Primary School had times when they couldn’t afford to pack school lunch for their children.
Joining Cooking Classes meant that they not only got to experience the fun of cooking together, and learning some new things along the way, but also the joy of taking the food hampers home each week. By getting involved with Cooking Classes, they could put a healthy meal (or two) on the table at home, at no cost! It really is a win-win.
“Seems too good to be true! From organisation to preparation and relationships, this program is absolutely amazing! We have been so pleased that our school could be part of this program and that it benefitted so many different families within our school.
It is lovely to see the families come together to cook and prepare a healthy meal together. Their teamwork and bonding as a family has also been wonderful to watch.”
Dana Street Primary School
COMMUNITY FOOD CENTRES
IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT OUR COMMUNITY FOOD CENTRES HAVE COMMUNITY
AT THEIR HEART, SO WE WERE DELIGHTED TO OPEN OUR PURPOSE-BUILT CENTRES IN BALLARAT AND MORWELL THIS YEAR TO OUR CHARITY AND COMMUNITY PARTNERS.
Serving as a hub for local communities, these centres operate as the critical link between Foodbank’s supply of healthy food and those experiencing food insecurity in surrounding LGAs. Our fresh, chilled and frozen food distribution can now stretch further without the travel time from our Melbourne warehouse. Already, local charities are feeling the impact this has made to their services.
As part of a pilot initiative with Federation University, we launched a Community Food Market operating out of our Ballarat Community Food Centre, where vulnerable students were able to “shop” for fresh food and pantry staples for free, in a mini supermarket style environment.
“It’s been a blessing. There’s plenty of food, and nobody puts pressure on you. Nobody says ‘oh, you can only have two of those.’ Nobody makes you feel bad for it.”
Frank Dyer, Federation Uni student
“Having the Ballarat Community Food Centre open has uplifted our Community Share Pantry exponentially. Many of the people we support say they cannot afford fresh fruit and vegetables, and their health has suffered as a result. Having access to high quality fresh fruit and veg through Foodbank gives our community members the opportunity to cook themselves basic nutritious meals and enjoy fruit to snack on.”
Creswick Neighbourhood House
Funds
WE’RE SO GRATEFUL FOR OUR DONORS AND OUR CORPORATE AND PHILANTHROPIC PARTNERS WHO HAVE CONTINUED TO GENEROUSLY SUPPORT OUR COMMUNITY PROGRAMS THIS YEAR.
Our Corporate Partners
• Aesop
• AIG
• Allianz Partners
• AusNet
• Australian Gas Infrastructure Group
• Catch.com.au
• Chobani
• Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Coates
• DECJUBA Foundation
• Dow Chemical
• Exxon Mobil
• Kinetic
• Melbourne Airport
• Minimax
• Origin Energy
• Peters Ice Cream
Trusts, Foundations & Major Donors
• The Pratt Foundation
• Phil Taylor Foundation
• Collier Charitable Fund
• Lions Club Members V1-4, V3, V5, The Australian Lions Foundation, Lions Club International Foundation
• John & Mary Grant
• Cuc Hua
• Women of the University Fund
Inc - Melbourne University
• Randall Foundation
• The PB Senn Family
• Avalanche Foundation
• The Stuart Leslie Foundation
• Johnstone Family Foundation
• Supreme Hotel Group Pty Ltd
• Ensign Laboratories Pty Ltd
• The Cox Family Foundation
• McAllister Family Foundation
• Port of Melbourne
• Presidian Group
• RACV
• Sunny Queen
• TANK Foundation
• Vanguard
• Villawood Foundation
• Weily Tribe Foundation
• Virtue Concrete and Building Pty Ltd
• Ruth McKenzie
• Robyn Ferguson
• Rob & Roz Milne
• Peter Lemon
• John & Jo Grigg
Special thanks to the Westgate Neighbourhood Fund for supporting our refurbished Volunteer Space at our Brooklyn Warehouse; and to Pressroom Partners for their ongoing support, including the design of our Annual Report.
COMMUNITY FUNDRAISING Food Fight ‘24
This year, we launched a unique school fundraiser – Food Fight. We invited schools and students to fundraise for Foodbank, flinging fake food and making a delightful mess, all while raising funds for people doing it tough, right across the state.
It’s no surprise that schools across Victoria were happy to put their hands up for an afternoon of fun – over 100 schools took part this year alone, and in the process, they raised 1 MILLION MEALS. Big thanks to every single school that’s hosted a Food Fight so far, it’s been incredible to watch!
MUCH FASTER FOOD
Until recently, fresh fruit and vegetable deliveries arrived at our warehouse in bins, which our volunteers sorted and packed into smaller boxes for distribution. Now, this process is nine times faster thanks to our new packing line generously donated to Foodbank by the Phil Taylor Foundation; helping us get more food picked, packed and distributed to where it needs to be.
Mobile Food Programs
via our mobile supermarket bus and Farms to Families markets.
This wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our core partners, the DECJUBA Foundation, TANK Foundation, Kinetic, Jack Brockhoff Foundation, John & Lyn Levy, and the Collie Foundation. We were able to reach 30,000 people Distributing over 680,000 meals in 23-24.
Our Corporate Partners
THIS YEAR, OUR CREW OF CORPORATE PARTNERS HELD FOOD DRIVES, FUNDRAISED, DONATED, AND ADVOCATED FOR US. ON TOP OF ALL THAT, THEY ROLLED UP THEIR SLEEVES AND VOLUNTEERED – A TOTAL OF 3,002 CORPORATE TEAM MEMBERS CONTRIBUTED AN EXCEPTIONAL 16,228 HOURS TO OUR CAUSE IN 23-24. TALK ABOUT SUPERSTARS!
COLLABORATIONS
Minimax
Our collaboration with Minimax last year challenged five Australian celebrities to design a spatula to raise funds for Foodbank – including our ambassadors Hamish Blake and Chrissie Swan, alongside model and presenter Bec Judd, MasterChef dessert star Kirsten Tibballs, and Attica owner and chef Ben Shewry. Collectively, the campaign raised 220,000 meals for people doing it tough.
Catch.com.au
This year, Catch.com.au was generous enough to select Foodbank as its Catch Community Partner, meaning any customer shopping online through Catch could choose to round-up their purchase and donate to us. Thanks to Catch for creating such a simple and easy way for our supporters to make a meaningful impact, providing more than 270,000 meals for people in need.
Sunny Queen
Thanks to their ongoing support as our valued partner and their special Foodbank purple egg cartons, the sales of Sunny Queen eggs provided over 44,000 meals to people struggling to afford healthy food these past 12 months.
MARKETS & COMMUNITY SUPPORT
DECJUBA Foundation,
TANK Foundation & Kinetic
Thanks to the generosity of the DECJUBA Foundation, TANK Foundation and Kinetic, we were able to double the impact of our mobile supermarket bus program this year. We’ve reached 60% more families in the last 12 months, distributing 135,960kgs in total – almost double the volume of food we distributed in 22-23.
Chobani
Thanks to the generosity of our long-term partner Chobani, we trialled a new series of ‘Food for Good’ markets this year, a pilot program targeted to families in the Greater Dandenong region of Melbourne. In line with their purpose to make a difference using food as a force for good, Chobani supported every moving part of this program including products for distribution, volunteers and funding, providing much-needed support to our local community.
AusNet
AusNet’s generosity has made a meaningful impact on both our operations this year and our future emergency relief work, financially supporting our emergency preparation and food supply, as well as the purchase of our first electric vehicle and charger for our fleet. Now in its third year, our partnership with AusNet is helping us become more sustainable and better able to support our community in times of disaster and emergency.
EVENTS
Fruit Loop ‘24
We didn’t have to ‘sweet talk’ any of the teams that signed up for our new corporate challenge Fruit Loop this year where they spent the day bonding as a team and picking apples from the orchard. All 50,000 apples picked on the day were donated straight to Foodbank, thanks to our incredible event partner, Montague Farms.
Thank you to AusNet, BildGroup, Chobani, DECJUBA Foundation, Jamf, McCain, Peters Ice Cream, Repurpose It, Salesforce, Southern Cross Austereo, Villawood Properties and Woolworths – who not only lent us their apple picking skills, but went the extra mile, raising 180,000 meals as part of the event.
Charity Shield Match Richmond vs Collingwood
Last February, two of the AFL’s biggest football clubs – Collingwood and Richmond – joined forces for the inaugural Charity Shield match, with proceeds from ticket sales going to Foodbank Victoria. Over 10,000 footy fans showed up to watch the pre-season battle, creating 120,000 meals for Victorians doing it tough. Thanks to both the Richmond and Collingwood Footy Clubs for driving such a fantastic initiative.
VOLUNTEERING & MORE
Melbourne Airport
Another year partnering with Melbourne Airport has been and gone – and it’s no surprise that it was another 12 months of invaluable support. This year, the Melbourne Airport team earned the title of Foodbank Victoria’s ‘Record Breaking Legends’ after packing an incredible 44,522 meals in just one day.
Port of Melbourne
Logistically, our team at Foodbank have a lot in common with our partners at Port of Melbourne – distribution is always our top priority. Since first partnering with us in 2018, Port of Melbourne’s partnership has provided over 1.8 million meals to Victorians who need it most.
Peters Ice Cream
We’re lucky enough to have partnered with Peters Ice Cream since 2016 – making this organisation our longest standing partner. After nearly a decade of their support, we know we can always count on the Peters team for an enthusiastic day spent volunteering at our warehouse, markets, or this year, a day out in the orchard - for our corporate apple picking challenge Fruit Loop. To date, Peters has helped provide over 1.7 million meals to Foodbank Victoria.
Financials
STATEMENT OF PROFIT OR LOSS AND OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2024
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION AS AT 30 JUNE 2024
Does our vision of healthy food for all mean something to you?
No child, and no adult, should have to come home to an empty fridge or pantry. You can support us in the following ways:
Funds
All donations to Foodbank go straight to our food relief and program development work in Victoria. For every $1 we receive, we’re able to provide 2 meals for someone in need. Donations over $2 are tax deductible. To donate, head to our website or give us a call.
supportercare@foodbankvictoria.org.au 1800 943 005
Food
If you’re in the food industry, talk to us about the benefits of becoming a food donor. Call or email us to get in touch.
If you’re an individual, or part of a workplace, school or community group, hold a food drive to collect and donate much-needed pantry staples and hygiene items. Visit our website for details.
food@foodbankvictoria.org.au (03) 9362 8300
Volunteer
We can’t do what we do without volunteers. Have some free time and want to contribute in our warehouse, at our pop-up markets or community events? Visit our website for details.
volunteering@foodbankvictoria.org.au (03) 9362 8349
Partner
Are you a part of an organisation that’s looking to give back? Our partners are extended members of the Foodbank family, and we are committed to nurturing these relationships to achieve positive outcomes together. Call us to learn more about partnership opportunities.
partnerships@foodbankvictoria.org.au (03) 9362 8343
