Kaibosh begin operation in Kāpiti

Ben Wakefield is managing Kaibosh Food Rescue's Kāpiti-Horowhenua branch. Photo / David Haxton

Let us introduce to you the charity tackling both food waste and poverty at the same time.
Established in Wellington 12 years ago by Robyn and George Langland, Kaibosh Food Rescue originated from a desire to solve two growing issues — food waste and people going hungry.

Now, a new Kāpiti -Horowhenua branch is opening in Paraparaumu.

Working with all major supermarkets, weekend markets and other commercial food businesses Kaibosh pick up food that is still good but can no longer be sold, and distribute it to charities in need.

While it is legal to sell food after its best-before date if it is safe to eat, New Zealand's biggest supermarket retailers Countdown and Foodstuffs say they do not sell food past best-before or use-by dates.

This means fresh produce such as fruit and vegetables, or dairy and meat are often left for waste — where Kaibosh comes in.

At 43 per cent of their intake, the majority of food Kaibosh pick up is fresh fruit and vegetables, with the next being dairy which makes up 18 per cent of food.

Differing from foodbanks and other organisations dealing with food, Kaibosh's goal is 'zero food waste, zero food poverty'.

They work on a large scale, mostly picking up perishable food such as fruit and vegetables, milk and meat from Countdown, Pak'nSave and New World.

The new branch is managed by Ben Wakefield whose background includes running a vegetable co-op in Paraparaumu.

"Waste is a huge discussion we've got going on in our society. So is poverty. Kaibosh is able to sit in between those two."

Doing a feasibility survey in Kāpiti last year, Kaibosh which has branches in Wellington and the Hutt Valley, found there was a need in Kāpiti, from companies getting rid of food and charities in need of food.

"We found there was a big need in Kāpiti, especially from supermarkets getting rid of waste.

"With sustainability targets to work to they are always looking to drop their waste, so we are helping be part of that. We are not taking anything away from other organisations or foodbanks. We don't deal with individuals, but larger companies to reduce their waste.

"We're a logistics charity that works on scale and are servicing all the way from Paekākāriki to Foxton. We also have a place in Manukau where any food we pick up that can't be eaten is taken."

The Kāpiti-Horowhenua branch will distribute food to places such as Zeal Kāpiti, Te Ara Korowai, Kāpiti Primary Wellbeing Hub and Kāpiti Impact Trust.

Based at Kāpiti Impact Hub on Tongariro St in Paraparaumu, Kaibosh has 25 volunteers starting training this week.

"The volunteers are the highlight of how this organisation operates.

"We have people who are wanting to do something for the community who just want to get involved. This is what we can do to help out."

Using Eat By Date data to determine how long the food is safe to eat, the charity trains volunteers on how to make sure the food is still safe to eat.

"We are huge on health and safety.

"We do quality control at supermarkets when we pick it up and all volunteers get trained on quality control and how to sort and pack food."

After Kaibosh picks up food from retailers, it sorts and packs it into food boxes and the charities collect them.

Operating seven days a week, Kaibosh continually works with the charities making sure they are getting the right amount of food to fit their needs.

Operation in Kāpiti is beginning now with an official launch on March 10.

Over the last year in the Wellington and Hutt Valley region over 294,000kg of food was provided to those in need with 30,000kg of food rescued per month equalling more than 85,000 meals and a monthly reduction of up to 10,830kg of carbon emissions.