Food waste drops to $3b a year, Rabobank-Kiwiharvest report finds

New Zealanders are wasting less food than they were two years ago. Photo / 123RF

Gen Z may still be the most wasteful generation when it comes to food – but they’re also leading the charge in cutting back, a survey has found.

New Zealanders are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, according to the 2025 Rabobank-KiwiHarvest Food Waste Survey, with the estimated percentage of household food waste dropping to 10.9%, from 12.2% in 2023.

This still equated to $3 billion per annum in wasted food, although it was down from $3.2 billion in 2023.

The average annual food waste per household was equal to $1364, down from $1510 in 2023.

Gen Z (aged about 13-28) was the most wasteful generation, reporting average food waste of 17.8% – more than double that of Baby Boomers (aged late 50s to late 70s), who waste just 6.8%.

Gen Y/Millennials (aged about 29-44) came in at 14.1%, and Gen X (45-60) at 10.4%.

However, it’s not all bad news for the younger generation.

Rabobank’s head of sustainable business development, Blake Holgate, said Gen Z also showed the largest improvement since the last survey, two years ago.

“Back in [2023] Gen Z estimated they wasted an astronomical 28.2% of their weekly food spend, so there has been quite a shift,” he said.

Gen Z also had the highest awareness of food waste initiatives from Rabobank and KiwiHarvest, with 47% familiar with the campaigns.

“There is still ample room for improvement, but it does appear those in Gen Z now have an improved understanding of the negative impacts of food waste,“ Holgate said.

Meanwhile, the survey also found men recorded higher estimated food waste (11.5%) than women (10.3%), and urban dwellers were more wasteful (12.4%) than their rural counterparts (7.8%).

KiwiHarvest’s chief executive, Angela Calver, said it was encouraging to see food waste trending down across recent years.

Listen to Jamie Mackay interview Blake Holgate on The Country below:

“It’s really pleasing to see things are heading in the right direction,” she said.

While this was positive, Calver said $3 billion in food waste was still too high and remained a major concern.

“At [an] average annual waste of 10.9% per household, Kiwi households are effectively throwing away nearly six weeks’ worth of groceries each year.”

At a glance: 2025 Rabobank-KiwiHarvest Food Waste Survey results

• New Zealanders are wasting less of their food than two years ago, with the estimated percentage of household food waste dropping to 10.9% from 12.2% in 2023.
• This fall has driven a decrease in the overall value of wasted food across New Zealand, now dipping to $3 billion a year (from $3.2b in 2023) despite marginal increases in household food spend and the total number of households.
• While Kiwis’ food waste attitudes and behaviours were largely similar in 2023, small improvements in a few key areas helped drive food waste lower.
• 35% of Kiwis say they are wasting less food than they did a year ago, with only 5% saying their food waste has increased.
• “Food going off before you can eat it” (45%) and “before use by and best before dates” (33%) remain the reasons most frequently cited for food waste.
• New Zealanders remain the most concerned about “the wasted money” resulting from food waste, with this cited as a key concern by 73% of respondents.
• Despite the reduction in overall food waste, fewer than one in five New Zealanders think enough is being done to address the issue.