Fighting food waste is fighting food insecurity.

Logistics

• Ahead of harvest, contact food rescue organisations to understand the possibilities for food rescue in your area.
• Don’t let transportation concerns stop you – food rescue organisations are used to organising logistics and have partnerships with nationwide transport companies. They’d prefer you ask.
• Consider placing bins and crates on the farm to make sorting for food rescue easier. Food rescue organisations can often help with this.
• If you use an external packhouse, engage with them on sending stock to food rescue.
• Ask your wholesaler if you can use them as cross-dock and put stock for food rescue on empty pallet spaces.

Communication

• Let food rescue partners know as early as possible, and in as much detail as possible, once you know you have surplus stock for donation.

Cultural change

• Effective food rescue relies on senior management’s endorsement.
• Set and track measurable targets for your food rescue efforts.
• Embed food rescue into the KPI’s of staff overseeing donations.

Relationships

• Introduce and endorse food rescue organisations to your network. Help reinforce relationships between food rescue and other growers.

Harvest

• Consider harvesting for food rescue. Food rescue organisations often take produce with wider specs than normal markets.

Cultural change:

• Effective food rescue relies on senior management’s endorsement.
• Set and track measurable targets for your organisation’s food rescue efforts.
• Embed food rescue into the KPIs of staff overseeing donations.

Training:

• Identify and train “first responder/s” in your organisation – these are the people who are first to know when stock is available for donation.
• Educate these team members on why food donation is important and support them to deliver effectively.

Logistics:

• Explore possibilities for optimising trailer utilisation by acting as cross-dock between growers and food rescue organisations.

Relationships:

• Introduce and endorse food rescue organisations to your suppliers. You can help reinforce and support partnerships between yourself, food rescue organisations, growers and logistics companies.

Communication:

• Let food rescue partners know as early as possible, and in as much detail as possible, once you know you have surplus stock for donation.

Cultural change:

• Effective food rescue relies on senior management’s endorsement.
• Set and track measurable targets for your organisation’s food rescue efforts.
• Embed food rescue into the KPIs of staff overseeing donations.

Training:

• Identify and train “first responder/s” in your organisation – these are the people who are the first to know when stock is available for donation.
• Educate these team members on why food donation is important and support them to deliver effectively.

Relationships:

• Introduce and endorse food rescue organisations to your suppliers. You can help reinforce and support partnerships between yourself, food rescue organisations, growers and logistics companies.

In store:

• Ensure that disputes between stores and food rescue organisations are handled promptly and efficiently.
• Promote, encourage, and support store’s food rescue initiatives.
• Let food rescue partners know as early as possible, and in as much detail as possible, once you know you have surplus stock for donation.

Trailer utilisation:

• Working with food rescue can increase trailer utilisation with stock that is less time-sensitive than your regular consignments.
• Proactively contact local food rescue organisations to let them know of routes that are often underutilised.
• Food rescue relies on cost effective logistics and every pro-bono kilometre helps.

Cultural change:

• Effective food rescue relies on senior management’s endorsement.
• Set and track measurable targets for organisation’s food rescue efforts.
• Embed food rescue into KPI’s of staff overseeing donations.

Training:

• Identify and train “first responder/s” in your organisation – these are the people who are first to know when stock is available for donation.
• Educate these team members on why food donation is important and support them to deliver effectively.

Relationships:

• Introduce and endorse food rescue organisations to your network. Share with your partners how you work effectively with food rescue.

Tax incentive:

A national food donation tax incentive (NFDTI) is projected to:

• Generate $2bn p.a. in social, economic, and environmental benefits.
• Increase food donation by alleviating key cost and capacity barriers for businesses.
• Help Australia achieve its stated target of halving food waste by 2030 by ensuring surplus food is donated instead of wasted.
• Align Australia’s food rescue regulation with major developed countries such as the US and EU members.
• Allow businesses to proactively invest in supporting Australia’s food waste reduction target.

Targeted funding:

• Funding for food purchases is good, but a prerequisite is that the food rescue organisations and frontline charities have the appropriate funding for food storage and logistics.
• Food relief funding needs to have a long-life span, for example food relief in case of natural disasters is required for an extended period after the immediate emergency.