Activating aid at the New Zealand Food Awards

This year, for the first time ever at the New Zealand Food Awards gala dinner, an activated finalist marketplace was created to help fundraise funds for national food rescue charity KiwiHarvest.

KiwiHarvest has a proud history with the Food Awards, after being named the 2022 Food Hero winner. The charity was nominated and voted by the New Zealand public in recognition of their continued support of the New Zealand food and beverage industry by diverting edible food away from landfills to feed hungry Kiwis. With 11 vehicles on the road and five branches across the country, KiwiHarvest is New Zealand’s largest food rescue organisation.

Acting Massey University National Events and Sponsorship Manager Anna Baird says the Awards wanted to highlight the critical role New Zealand food charities play in the food and beverage sector and the impact they have on sustainability in Aotearoa, and strengthen the relationship the Awards have with the charity.

“We came up with a way to proudly display our finalists’ products to industry stakeholders in the room, and also offer guests the opportunity to purchase the amazing and highly sought-after products first hand, a request we’ve had many times before!

“We also wanted to recognise and support this dedicated charity and the work they do, and we knew that our supportive food and beverage community would as well. We couldn’t have done it without the generosity of our finalists who donated products, the guests who purchased them, and our partners at BNZ who provided us with the mobile payments solutions that allowed the transactions to occur,” Miss Baird says.

The finalist marketplace worked by displaying the products with their recommended retail price (RRP). Guests were invited to purchase items for the RRP, but encouraged to dig a little deeper to back the great cause. Products included a generous mixed meat pack from Nadia Lim’s Royalburn Station, Robbie’s Honey Sloe Gin Pickled Onions, Island Gelato Co’s Chocolate and Forest Berry Cake and Culley’s Savoury Onion Dip, to name a few.

BNZ showcased two mobile payment solutions, BNZ Pay and PayClip, which enabled guests to make purchases with EFTPOS, credit card or digital wallet throughout the evening.

BNZ Head of Export Business Jason Reeves says it was a great opportunity to be able to showcase mobile payment solutions to the industry.

“As a proud partner of the New Zealand Food Awards and the leading bank for Kiwi businesses, we were thrilled to showcase the 2023 finalists and partner with two of our business banking clients, KiwiHarvest and Massey University, to demonstrate our innovative mobile payment solutions. What better way to showcase how we’re backing the New Zealand food and beverage sector,” Mr Reeves says.

The finalist marketplace raised an outstanding $1,611, which will enable KiwiHarvest to rescue over 1,700kg of unwanted food and deliver 4,890 meal equivalents into the community. As a result, this will prevent the release of 4,535kg of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

KiwiHarvest Founder Deb Manning says they are truly grateful for the funds raised.

“KiwiHarvest are currently distributing around 98,500 meal equivalents each week to 39,600 people in need. We are very grateful for the funds raised through the New Zealand Foods Awards. Every kilogram of food we rescue prevents 2.65kg of carbon dioxide being released.

“Being involved with events like the New Zealand Food Awards also helps to raise the profile of food rescue and the essential work being done every day around Aotearoa,” Ms Manning says.

The finalist marketplace was such a success that it is rumoured to become a permanent fixture of the gala dinner for years to come.