In the Wellington region, Kaibosh has 35 staff (12.1 FTEs) and 220 volunteers over its 3 branches. To demonstrate the scale of the operation, last year volunteers donated 7000+ hours, doing food pickups, sorting and repackaging it prior to its distribution to partner agencies for allocation to those in need. Food is checked for food safety and quality and what doesn’t meet quality standards is turned into soups or preserved by their kitchen kai providers. There is very little waste.
We have a conundrum in New Zealand. We are a country of 5.12 million people, we produce enough food to feed 50 million yet as we know, many experience food insecurity. Much of our production is exported and in the process of growing, moving, processing and selling there is a huge waste stream that is underutilised at best, and at worst, it is dumped in landfill causing damaging emissions.
Kaibosh was founded in 2008, the first dedicated food rescue in Aotearoa. It was established to convert these waste streams into food supplies available to agencies supporting those who struggle to fed themselves and their families. Susie describes her organisation as a logistics company with a heart.
Kaibosh’s vision is zero food poverty - zero food waste and from its inception, it has been willing to share knowledge so other food rescue operations can benefit from their experience. There are now thirty one food rescue organisations in Aotearoa and most modelled on Kaibosh.
y operate 7 days a week, and since it began it has redistributed 4.4million kgs food with operating costs today being $1.50per kg. It is estimated 9000 people are supported each month and an Otago University study showed that for every $1.50 spent on food rescue it returns $4.50 in social value.
New initiatives are ensuring Kaibosh remains responsive to changes such as supermarkets volumes of donated food reducing because they are working smarter. Hence, they are piloting working directly with farmers to not only collect their surplus produce but potentially creating a co-op market environment to support farmers with another revenue source. Kaibosh’s ethos is reciprocity in relationships. A nice example was an orchardist donated 12 ton of pears and apples last year, so Kaibosh volunteers helped them with their pruning in Autumn.
Until we can address Aotearoa’s inequities, social issues, job losses and high rents, Kaibosh will remain a critical and hugely valuable player in our social support infrastructure.
Brenda Lazelle