The Great Dolmio Cookoff aims for 5,000 meals for people in need on the NSW Central Coast.

Date: 9 October 2023

Dolmio, Sodexo, and Foodbank have announced a renewed partnership for the week-long Great Dolmio Cookoff. The event is set to draw attention to World Food Day on 16 October – a day to raise awareness of global hunger and encourage action – while helping those in the NSW Central Coast community.

Data from Foodbank reveals that on any day in Australia, over half a million households are struggling to put food on the table¹. In response, Dolmio, is transforming its Central Coast production facility’s commercial R&D kitchen into a ‘Master Chef-worthy’ set for a meal-making marathon.

Over 100 members of the Dolmio team, along with staff from Sodexo, are volunteering their time. The team are aiming to make 1,000 meals a day, working three shifts a day throughout the week of 9-13 October.

Around 20 local charity partners within Foodbank Australia’s network – including Coast Shelter – will be collecting the prepared meals and distributing them directly to people in need of food relief.

Bill Heague, General Manager Mars Food & Nutrition Australia, said that he knows the importance of helping to put food on tables.

“Our best loved brands like Dolmio have been helping Australian’s to make meals for over 75 years – based here on the Central Coast,” Bill said.

“Dolmio is all about helping to inspire the small touches that can bring joy to our day-to-day lives. For many of us, that comes through the food we eat and who we eat it with – and that connection is something everyone should get to enjoy. However, sadly there are an increasing number of Australians, including in our own Central Coast, who are struggling with food insecurity. That’s why we are joining forces again with our generous partners to provide healthy cooked meals for people in need in our local community” he said.

Sodexo, an integrated facilities management services company with a base on the Central Coast, are providing support services and the key ingredients for the 5,000 meals.

Keith Weston, Sodexo Australia Managing Director, said the partnership builds on their global Stop Hunger initiative to address food insecurity and malnutrition.

“Sodexo is proud to team up with Dolmio and our national charity partner, Foodbank Australia, to address the growing demand for food relief,” Mr Weston said.

“In Australia alone, 2 million households experienced severe food insecurity in the last year. With this figure set to rise with the increased cost of living and inflation on everyday household goods, it is important that we act today to deliver a better tomorrow for our communities.”

“Our mission is to improve quality of life through our services, and we believe that quality of life only begins when basic needs are met. This annual event demonstrates tangible actions we can take to enhance the lives of our communities through collaboration and shared social responsibility,” he said.

The teams are cooking balanced and delicious meals with fresh ingredients including Dolmio Bolognese, MasterFoods Honey BBQ chicken and MasterFoods Beef Stroganoff.

Brianna Casey, Foodbank Australia CEO, said the organisation has never seen such a high demand for food relief.

“We could not do what we do without the support of our generous donors like Mars Food Australia and Sodexo who continue to help us get meals to where it’s needed in many communities throughout the country.”

Every $1 donated = 2 meals

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What’s Week of Care?

Non food relief products in high demand

14 July 2023, Sydney: Food and grocery relief organisation, Foodbank Australia, has revealed 40 percent of people accessing services have requested more household cleaning products, followed closely by personal care items.

Foodbank’s Week of Care, starting Sunday 16^th July, is an important week for the organisation to highlight its valuable non-food donors and the essential products donated. Basic, but necessary, items such as nappies, shampoo and conditioner, washing detergent, oral care, period care items and much more – simple items that fall off the family budget when times are tough.

[1] Foodbank website, Find Food page. Google Analytics

Foodbank provides food and grocery relief to more than one million Australians every month. In the past nine months, it has seen an average increase of 21 percent[1] in people seeking food relief, correlating with the cash rate rises each month.

Now in its third year, Foodbank Australia CEO, Brianna Casey hopes Week of Care will shine a spotlight on what these non-food products mean, and just how vital they are to the many vulnerable households around the country.

“To the many people we provide relief to, these non-food items are more than just a product on a shelf. Shampoo represents clean, fresh hair so they can be presentable at work, or school. Washing detergent equals clean clothes, period items make it easier to go to school or simply just leave the house, all this helps maintain a sense of dignity when life becomes really tough.

“If we were not able to rely on the generosity of our non-food donors and provide the toothbrushes, nappies, soap and detergent, many of these items would be out of reach for the thousands of Aussies doing it tough every day,” said Ms Casey.

Foodbank has seen an increase in the demand for food and grocery relief due to the cost of living crisis, changing the demographics of who the food relief organisation traditionally has helped.

“We are seeing people with not one, but two jobs, families with mortgages or rents, students, retirees, people from all different walks of life. We want to be able to essentially wrap our arms around these people and help them. We want to make the step of asking for help easy and accessible and we want to normalise that it’s ok to get help.

“We are so grateful for the number of national donors who provide these personal care, household care and other non-food products which are in such high demand.”

Foodbank would like to acknowledge and thank Beiersdorf, Haleon, Henkel, Kenvue Kimberly-Clark, L’Oreal, P&G, PZ Cussons, Reckitt, Unilever, and Sorbent for their ongoing support in supplying non-food products.

Every $1 will help provide 2 meals

Foodbank South Australia to expand Northern Territory operations

1 July 2023,

Foodbank South Australia and Central Australia services are to expand to the entire Northern Territory from 1 July 2023, in response to the escalating need for food relief in the community.

Foodbank SA and Central Australia currently operates in the Territory, having opened the Alice Springs Foodbank Food Hub in 2020. It will now extend this highly effective model to the Top End, Darwin and Katherine to ensure the rising demand for food relief is met and will be known as Foodbank SA & NT.

Baptist Care Northern Territory (BCNT), which established Foodbank in Darwin in 2010 and has been delivering services under license since then, is working with Foodbank SA and Central Australia to ensure minimal disruptions to the distribution of food relief in the Territory. This change in operations will enable BCNT to focus on its core mission within the community, including outreach and its Food for Life program.

With the cost-of-living crisis and increasing frequency of natural disasters compounding the already dire hardship in regional and remote communities, the need to increase emergency food relief is pressing. This initiative will result in more Territorians being able to access culturally appropriate, nutritious food relief at a time when it’s never been needed more.

Greg Pattinson, CEO, Foodbank SA and Central Australia acknowledges the work of BCNT in the community and the difference they have made.

“For many years, Foodbank SA has supported Central Australia and we are delighted to be invited to expand our activities further north to achieve better coverage and operational efficiencies.

“We would like to acknowledge and thank the work of Baptist Care Northern Territory in setting up and developing the Foodbank NT services and look forward to extending the support for vulnerable Territorians,” said Greg.

Every $1 will help provide 2 meals

A moment with Alex Holt

What does your partnership with Foodbank mean to Woolworths from a sustainability perspective?

Woolworths has partnered with Foodbank for more than 20 years and it is an incredibly important partnership for us. The link to sustainability through food rescue is a key driver behind our partnership. As the largest food retailer in Australia, it’s important we are rescuing as much food as possible from landfill. The role Foodbank plays in rescuing food from our distribution centres is critical, as without them it would be incredibly difficult to deliver large quantities of food to those who need it most.

Throughout our 20 years of partnership, more than 46 million meals have been given to people in need as a result of the resources and donations provided by Woolworths, as well as the generous donations of our customers. In 2022 alone, Woolworths donated the equivalent of more than 3.7 million meals, 212,000kg of essential grocery items and more than $1.7 million in donations which helped source essential food and grocery relief. Most importantly, the food we are rescuing is being used to support millions of Australians experiencing food insecurity – so the more we rescue, the less food in landfill, and the more people have access to food! It is such a positive circular loop. Our food waste partnerships are the most important sustainability program to our supermarket shoppers.

The Woolworths and Foodbank relationship has grown significantly over the years, with Woolworths being Foodbank’s biggest donor for the last four years in a row! What opportunities do you foresee for the partnership in the future?

So many opportunities! The top 5 we see are:

The Hunger Report is such an important tool for the industry. It now provides hunger mapping which we believe will help maximise our support for Foodbank in locations we know over-index in hunger.
Breakfast Programs. It is increasingly important that kids are not hungry at school, and are supported to learn to at their full potential. We are very keen to do more in this space with Foodbank in the future because setting kids up with a nutritious breakfast is proven to be the best way for them to start the day.
Working hand in hand with our joint partners and suppliers. The recent April Foodbank campaign was a great success and we want to continue using our network of partners to maximise our impact on food insecurity.
Leveraging Woolworths Group knowledge and expertise across our systems, digital technology, supply chain and Everyday Rewards program to better connect with people who might be doing it tough.
How do we work together to take the stigma out of food relief:

Foodbank does a very good job at making Australians more familiar with the changing face of food insecurity in Australia. The more we can talk about hunger and who experiences it, the better we can help reduce the stigma and encourage more people in need to connect with hunger relief providers.

We are grateful to have you on our board, what does it mean to you?

From an early age my mum instilled in me a deep-seated passion to have a positive impact on people. I have experienced and seen first hand the benefit that food relief can provide for people. As a community, we still have a long way to go in addressing inequality and the work that the Foodbank team members do every day to support people with food relief is inspiring. I feel so lucky to be a part of the amazing Foodbank team and the work they do.

3 MILLION MEALS FOR AUSTRALIANS IN NEED IN 2023

15 May 2023,

Mars Food Australia has pledged to double its food donation in 2023, aiming to help provide a total of three million meals to support people in need across Australia.

The majority of the meals will be donated through the Foodbank Collaborative Supply Program which will run for the third year. This initiative sees Mars Food produce regular, dedicated MasterFoods, Dolmio and Kan Tong cooking sauces for the food relief organisation. It is delivered in partnership with six of Mars Food’s ingredient and packaging partners who donate their products and service – Cheetham Salt, Huhtamaki, Ingredion, Kagome, Visy Board and Visy Glass.

Foodbank Australia CEO, Brianna Casey, said more than two million households in Australia (21%) have experienced severe food insecurity in the last 12 months, according to the Foodbank Hunger Report 2022.

“On any given day in Australians more than half a million households are struggling to put a meal on the table. Sadly, Children are being hit hardest with 1.3 million children living in severely food insecure households,” Ms Casey said.

“This fantastic collaboration with Mars Food Australia enables our warehouses across the country to have a steady supply of key staples. Generally, at Foodbank we work with a ‘surprise chain’ – relying on ad hoc donations and unpredictable food rescue opportunities – but with programs such as this, we can work with a predictable and reliable ‘supply chain’.

“These products from Mars Food Australia were chosen for their ability to help create tasty, nutritious and easy to prepare meals with commonly available ingredients,” Ms Casey said.

Bill Heague, Mars Food Australia’s General Manager, reflects on the third year of the Collaborative Supply Program.

“A better world tomorrow is one where no one needs to use a food bank. However, sadly, that is still not a reality for many Australians today. We are proud of our ongoing partnership with Foodbank to support the work they do to support individuals and families who are struggling with food insecurity and going through difficult times.

“We started the program in 2021 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic with an ambition to help provide 600,000 meals to Australians in need, and last year we doubled that figure to 1.5 million. As we enter the third year of our program, we are setting a bold ambition to again double that donation as we aim to help provide three million healthy meals. None of this would be possible without our supplier partners and we are grateful for their ongoing support and contribution to make a difference to Australians in need.”

Mars Food Australia is providing guaranteed quantities of five of their most popular mealtime products to Foodbank:

DOLMIO® Bolognese
KAN TONG® Honey Soy Garlic Sauce
MasterFoods® Satay Chicken Stir Fry Recipe Base
MasterFoods® Beef Stroganoff Recipe Base

MasterFoods® Butter Chicken Recipe Base

Food Relief Sector misses out in budget

SYDNEY, Wednesday 10^th May 2023: Australia’s largest food relief organisations (Foodbank, OzHarvest and SecondBite) have collectively expressed their disappointment in the Federal Government’s decision not to increase funding to the food relief sector as part of its suite of Budget measures to alleviate cost of living pressures.

The sector had requested an annual Federal Government commitment of $45m per annum to ensure food relief is available to those experiencing food insecurity all year round. It had also requested the establishment of rapidly disbursable, stand-by funding to assist with natural disasters mitigation, preparedness and resilience – both requests have gone unanswered.

OzHarvest CEO, Ronnie Kahn AO says the increase in the number of people being impacted by cost of living pressures has been mirrored by an unprecedented increase in the number of people seeking urgent assistance from food pantries and other frontline charities – many for the very first time.

“This budget presented an opportunity for the Federal Government to address the historic underfunding of the food relief sector and hand down a wellbeing Budget that prioritised the most vulnerable in our communities. It is devastating that despite the record increase in demand for food the government couldn’t find any money in the budget to assist the sector to expand its work so less people go to bed hungry” said Ms Khan.

Foodbank Australia CEO, Brianna Casey, says the food relief sector acknowledges and welcomes the increase to the rates of JobSeeker and related payments, but not a single cent was allocated to food relief.

“The cost of living crisis has forced people to make impossible choices about where their last dollars go each week, and for many, food has become a discretionary item in the household budget. It is galling that in a surplus budget no extra money could be found for food relief,” Ms Casey said.

With the increased cost of housing, food and groceries, energy and other essential services leading more and more people to food relief charities, this budget presented an opportunity for the Federal Government to ‘leave no one behind’.

SecondBite Acting CEO, Lucy Coward says the sector has been a key player in the provision of nutritious food to hungry Australians, as well as playing an integral role in the distribution of food to communities impacted by natural disaster and the pandemic over the past few years.

“Collectively we are unable to meet all the demands for food relief from the community, with rising input costs also impacting frontline charities and food relief providers, making it harder and more costly for us to reach the growing number of people in need of support,” said Ms Coward.

The sector calls on the Federal Government to work together with the Food Relief sector over the coming 12 months on meaningful ways to meet the increasing demand for food relief, and better ensure we are prepared and able to act promptly in response to future disasters across our community.

SUNNY QUEEN IS ‘EGG-STREMELY’ PROUD TO HAVE PARTNERED WITH FOODBANK AND MAJOR RETAILERS TO HELP RAISE FUNDS TO FEED AUSSIES IN NEED

28 April 2023

Australia’s favourite smiley-faced eggs and Foodbank Australia are proof of the power of an ‘egg-ceptional’ partnership, their joint ‘Purple Egg Pack’ campaign having raised enough money in six months to provide 184,738 meals to families in need.

The product cracked the market last June with a percentage of proceeds from every carton sold at supermarket major outlets across Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales being donated towards Foodbank.

“We are egg-stremely proud to have created a Purple Foodbank Egg Carton for a very special purpose,” said Isabelle Dench, Head of Marketing of Sunny Queen Australia.

“To have provided over 184,000 meals for a cause that really matters in the first six months of the campaign is so incredible. We’re egg-cited to continue the partnership and provide even more meals by the end of the year,” she said.

The funds raised were handed over to the Foodbank team at a morning tea today, Friday, April 28.

“We are so grateful for our partnership with Sunny Queen who have supported Foodbank since 2018,” said Foodbank Australia CEO Brianna Casey.

“I have loved seeing the purple Sunny Queen Egg cartons in my local supermarket and this result is truly amazing and will make such a different to the lives of many doing it tough right now.”

To buy your own Purple Egg Pack, head to your nearest major retail outlet.

Woolworths and Foodbank partner with suppliers to help provide up to 1 million meals for Australians facing food insecurity.

Wednesday, 26 April 2023: A new campaign supporting one of Australia’s largest providers of food relief, Foodbank, has launched in Woolworths supermarkets.

From 26 April 2023 until 16 May 2023, donations from customers and brands of participating products including Arnott’s, Sanitarium, Dolmio, Vetta, SPC, Pauls and Kraft Heinz will help Foodbank provide meals to Australians in need, with a goal of raising enough funds to provide 1 million meals.

Customers will be able to donate to Foodbank during the first two weeks of the campaign by rounding up their shop in store, or can choose to donate their Rewards dollars directly to Foodbank via the Everyday Rewards app.

Foodbank is facing increased demand for support, with its latest Foodbank Hunger Report 2022 revealing over 2 million households across Australia have experienced food insecurity in the last twelve months. The day-to-day reality of food insecurity they’re seeing differs greatly between households, and on a typical day there are over 306,000 households in Australia receiving assistance from food relief organisations.

Brianna Casey, Foodbank Australia CEO, said:

“We are seeing more and more Australians reaching out for help. These are people with jobs, double incomes, mortgages who are just struggling, like many of us with the cost of living.

“Foodbank provides food relief to more than 1 million Australians a month and, thanks to Woolworths, its generous customers and these wonderful brands participating in this campaign, we will ensure we support as many of those in need as we can.”

Woolworths has partnered with Foodbank for more than 20 years. Throughout this time, over 46 million meals have been given to people in need from the resources and donations provided by Woolworths, as well as the generous donations of Woolworths customers. In 2022 alone, Woolworths donated the equivalent of more than 3.7 million meals, 212,000kg of essential grocery items and more than $1.7 million which went to sourcing essential food and grocery relief.

Woolworths Supermarkets Managing Director, Natalie Davis, said:

“We know there are an increasing number of Australians facing food insecurity at the moment. Foodbank continues to support these communities with compassion everyday, and we hope the support of this campaign can help them put even more meals on tables heading into winter.

“At Woolworths, we’re proud to continue supporting Foodbank as one of Australia’s largest providers of food relief. Over the years we’ve seen communities rally together during challenging times, and a little good can add up and have a huge impact on the lives of thousands. Through our partnership, and together with the generosity of both our customers and suppliers, we can all contribute to making a difference.”

For more information about participating products and donations, head to the Woolworths website.

Every $1 will help provide 2 meals

Food relief sector call on the federal government to address historic underfunding in midst of the rising level of demand for food.

Thursday 16 February, 2023

Australia’s major food relief organisations OzHarvest, Foodbank and SecondBite are calling on the federal government to address historic underfunding of the sector to ensure it can address the ever-rising levels of demand for food relief.

OzHarvest’s Founder and CEO, Ronni Kahn AO, said despite multiple submissions to the federal government over years, base funding has not increased.

How many more people need to be hungry before this issue gets attention? Most of the charities we support do not have enough food to meet demand and we still have 600 on the waiting list. Food insecurity is a problem that is not going away.

Foodbank Hunger Report 2022 revealed a shocking picture with over 2 million Australian households experiencing food insecurity last year.

Foodbank Australia CEO, Briana Casey, said demand for food relief continues to increase,

We are seeing more and more everyday Australians reach out for help. These are people with jobs, double incomes, mortgages but the cost-of-living crisis is impacting them too and many find themselves asking for food relief for the first time. On a typical day, half a million households are struggling to put food on the table and we know only 306,000 households access food relief. This is a gap that is growing, and we need federal support to fill it.

SecondBite Acting CEO Lucy Coward said increasing mortgage repayments, rent rises, energy and food prices are squeezing people’s budgets and they are seeking help from charities in unprecedented numbers across Australia.

The food relief sector has never seen demand rising at such a pace. We’re hearing stories of elderly people prioritising their pets over themselves and parents going without so their children can go to school with food in their lunchbox. The federal government must increase sector funding as a national priority.

Last year, 1.3 million children lived in severely food insecure households, but the federal government only allocated just over $2 million dollars to the food relief sector. That’s less than $2 per child for the year without factoring in the hundreds of thousands of adults also experiencing food insecurity.

Together OzHarvest, SecondBite and Foodbank are calling on the federal government to invest $45m annually so that food relief can be made available to all vulnerable Australians every day of the year.

While governments have stepped up to provide emergency funding in response to natural disasters and the pandemic, the food insecurity crisis is just as much of a national emergency and needs an urgent long-term financial commitment to solve. Band aid solutions are not helping the hundreds of thousands of Australians in desperate need.