Interview with Mars Food Australia General Manager, Bill Heague.

In July, Foodbank launched its first Collaborative Supply Program featuring four different product item in partnership with Mars Food, a long-standing supporter of Foodbank nationally. We asked Mars Food Australia General Manager, Bill Heague, to share some more about the partnership.

Foodbank: Our partnership with Mars Food Australia is very important to us because of the crucial part you play in helping us end hunger in Australia. What does your partnership with Foodbank mean to Mars Food Australia?

Bill Heague: Mars Food Australia has a long-standing relationship Foodbank, and it’s one of which we are very proud. Mars is a company genuinely driven by purpose. We have a global commitment to deliver 25 million meals to people in need by 2025 and we are doing this through strategic partnerships, like the one we have with Foodbank in Australia.

Locally, our commitment translates to one million meals for Australians by the end of 2021. Foodbank is a crucial link to help us get food to people who need it the most – and this year our collaborative supply partnership alone will help us deliver 60 per cent of our goal.

FB: And what about the people who work at Mars Food Australia – why is the Foodbank partnership important to your Mars Associates?

BH: Mars is a family-owned business, and the culture of caring for one another is very strong. Our Associates understand the important role we can all play in helping people in need.

As part of our new collaborative supply partnership, we are donating our Associates’ labour and time on production lines to produce more than 175,000 jars and bottles of dinner food specifically for Foodbank.

The team is genuinely excited to see the products they make every day getting to people who need them most.

FB: Last month, we launched the first Foodbank Collaborative Supply Program featuring four different products from Mars Food Australia. Why did you decide to set up this Collaborative Supply Program?

BH: Foodbank has never been more important for Australians than it is right now. Foodbank is responsible for ensuring essential food relief is available despite the many lockdowns, border closures and panic buying.

On top of that, lost employment and the broader economic fallout from COVID-19 have generated a need to increase the quantity of food provided to Australians from all walks of life.

With the pandemic making food insecurity an even bigger issue over the past 18 months, we knew we could do more to help. So, we talked with Foodbank CEO, Brianna Casey, to find out what we could do.

One of Foodbank’s biggest challenges is the need for a consistent supply of food products. Enabling a steady, planned supply would help meet the huge logistical challenge Foodbank faces getting food to the hundreds of thousands of Australians doing it tough.

So, this year, we joined as a collaborative supply partner to help resolve what Brianna refers to as their food and grocery ‘surprise chain’ which is based on ad hoc donations and unpredictable food rescue opportunities. We wanted to help turn that into a predictable and reliable supply chain.

In addition to our new collaboration, we’ll also be continuing our usual monthly donations

Partnerships like this one between Foodbank and Mars Food Australia are vital in helping organisations like Foodbank meet this growing need.

FB: The Mars Food and Foodbank relationship is already setting the standard for food industry and charity collaborations. Do you have any ideas on how you would like to see the partnership develop in the future?

BH: We’re keen to keep this Collaborative Supply Program going for as long as it’s helping feed Australians in need. We’d also like to look at how we can grow our partnership with Foodbank and contribute further in coming years. Watch this space!

MAGGI HEARTY ONE-POT CASSEROLE: SLOW COOKED BEEF CASSEROLE RECIPE

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 2 hours

Serves: 6

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 625g gravy beef, cut into 3cm pieces
• 1 brown onion, thinly sliced
• 2 carrots, peeled, halved, thinly sliced
• 2 celery sticks, thinly sliced diagonally
• 400g can diced tomatoes
• MAGGI Hearty One Pot Recipe Base
• 3 cups (750ml) reduced-salt beef stock

METHOD

1. Heat oil in a large casserole pan over medium-high heat. Cook beef, in 4 batches, turning occasionally, for 3 mins or until browned all over. Transfer to a bowl.
2. Add onion, carrot and celery to pan. Cook, stirring, for 5 mins or until onion softens. Return beef to pan.
3. In a small jug combine tomatoes and MAGGI recipe base, add to pan with beef stock. Bring to the boil.
4. Reduce heat to low. Cook, covered, for 2 hours or until the beef is very tender. Serve.

MAGGI HEARTY ONE-POT CASSEROLE: ONE PAN CHICKEN

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour

Serves: 6

INGREDIENTS

• ½ cup (140g) tomato paste
• MAGGI Hearty One Pot Casserole Recipe Base
• 6 chicken marylands
• 500g baby potatoes, halved
• 1 red onion, cut into wedges
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 80g baby spinach leaves

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C.
2. Combine tomato paste and MAGGI recipe base in a small bowl.
3. Cut 3 slits in top of each piece of chicken. Rub tomato paste mixture over chicken. Place in a large roasting pan with potato, onion, tomatoes and ½ cup (125mL) water. Spray with oil spray.
4. Bake for 1 hour or until chicken is cooked through. Stir in spinach and serve.

MAGGI HEARTY ONE-POT CASSEROLE: CHICKEN AND CHICKPEA BAKE

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 55 minutes

Serves: 6

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tsp oil
• 1 brown onion, thinly sliced
• 1 red capsicum, sliced
• 700g passata
• MAGGI Heart One Pot Casserole Recipe Base
• 400g can chickpeas, rinsed, drained
• 12 chicken drumsticks

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/ 160°C fan forced.
2. Heat a large flameproof casserole pan over high heat. Add oil, onion, and capsicum; cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until the onion softens.
3. Add combined passata and MAGGI recipe base; chickpeas. Bring to the boil. Remove from heat.
4. Arrange chicken over passata mixture in pan. Bake, turning chicken occasionally, for 50 mins or until the chicken is cooked through. Serve.

Partnership provides 85 million meals to Australians in need

20th October 2020

Australian family-owned agribusinesses, Manildra Group and MSM Milling, have marked a unique partnership with food producers Simplot and Rinoldi, and leading Food relief organization, Foodbank Australia, resulting in 85 million meals donated to Aussies in need.

The Australian businesses have donated flour since 2004 as well as oil and sugar since 2009 to manufacturers Rinoldi and Simplot, as part of Foodbank’s vital collaborative food supply programs.

Manildra Group and MSM Milling source wheat and canola from local farmers, handle the milling and consolidation locally and help people across Australia, including in the Central West of NSW, with finished products distributed via the Foodbank network of front-line charities.

Manildra Group’s flour is donated to Rinoldi which produces pasta specifically for Foodbank to distribute across Australia. MSM Milling’s auzure canola oil and Sunshine Sugar are donated to Simplot to produce Leggo’s Napoletana Pasta Sauce.

The Manager of Manildra Flour Mill, John Brunner, says each year Manildra’s flour donation delivers five million serves of pasta to Australians experiencing all types of hardships.

“Now, more than ever the Foodbank Pasta Program is invaluable to those Australians who need it most. Australians who were struggling to get enough food before COVID-19 are now going hungry more often, with 43 per cent going a day a week without eating. As an Australian-owned family business we’re proud to step up and donate 350 tonnes of locally milled flour and 12 tonnes of sugar to this vital program to help vulnerable Australians in need. Our partnership with Foodbank is now in its 16th year, and it’s heartwarming to be part of a program that provides millions of serves of pasta for food relief activities, as well as natural disasters,” said Mr Brunner.

MSM Milling’s expeller pressed, Non-GM canola oil is a vital ingredient in the 250-thousand jars of Leggo’s Napoletana pasta sauce made for the partnership each year, delivering almost a million serves of sauce to Australians. Director Bob Mac Smith says the company is honoured to play an essential part in a program that alleviates food insecurity in local communities.

“Every year for the last 12 years MSM Milling has proudly donated thousands of litres of canola oil to this valuable program to ensure such a versatile pantry staple is made available to those who most need it. We’re a family business and the team is proud and humbled to donate oil to the program and see the difference it makes to everyday Australians, including those in our own backyard,” he said.

“This year has really highlighted the vital importance of Australian businesses supporting local farmers, manufacturers, organisations and other Australian businesses. We’re standing in the canola today which will be expeller pressed in a few weeks at our presses a stone’s throw from here. It truly is a unique partnership that highlights what can be achieved when suppliers and food manufacturers come together to collectively benefit Australian communities, from farmers, local businesses and our most vulnerable. It’s extremely humbling to be involved in this,” said Mr Mac Smith.

Foodbank National Program Manager – Agriculture, Jacqui Payne added, “We are extremely grateful for Manildra Group and MSM Milling’s dedication to our cause and ongoing involvement in our vital programs. Our Collaborative Supply Programs are a world-leading and globally unique model for food relief, and we’re delighted to have proud Australian businesses like Manildra Group and MSM Milling playing such major roles. They understand the importance of Foodbank being able to make these pantry essentials available to families from all regions and all walks of life who are doing it tough right now. Put simply, if we did not receive this support, families and individuals across Australia would be going without.”

Foodbank serving up Aussie pork to people in need

1st October 2020

Amid the social and economic disruptions caused by COVID-19 in recent months, Australia’s pork industry has been working with the country’s leading food relief organisation, Foodbank Australia, to support Australians struggling to put food on the table.

In a collaboration involving the Federal Government and Australian Pork Limited (APL), Foodbank Australia’s provision of protein to members of the community in need has been boosted by weekly deliveries from several pork wholesalers across the country.

More than a quarter of Australian pork is usually consumed in foodservice outlets, so when restaurants, pubs and clubs across the country were forced to closed earlier in the year, alternative markets had to be found.

APL CEO Margo Andrae said while the rise in homemade meals increased pork sales at butchers and supermarkets, the supply chain has still been under pressure in adjusting to COVID-19 restrictions.

“Australia’s weekly pork production is very consistent,” Ms Andrae said. “Even with retail sale increases, we were looking at ways to take pressure off of our processors and wholesalers to ensure the market stayed as stable as possible and producers had some certainty.”

“We approached the Federal Government to talk about ways we could turn a challenge into a positive because while we had surplus product, there are lots of people facing food insecurity.”

Emergency relief funding made available to Foodbank by Federal Minister for Families and Social Services Anne Ruston enabled the initiative to commence.

“Wholesalers Linley Valley Pork (WA), Holco (SA), Global Meats (Vic) Mastercut Meats (NSW) and Top Cut (Qld) have been pivotal in this wonderful initiative, providing pork to Foodbank at a significant discount to ensure the funding can be stretched as far as possible,” Ms Andrae said.

“We’re proud of the role our industry is playing in providing food security for those in need, but we’re also very grateful to Foodbank because the weekly supply arrangements have given processors and wholesalers added operational certainty for their businesses and employees.

“This has helped keep employees at our plants working and helped ensure producers could be confident they had a buyer.”

“Sadly, we’ve seen market failure in the US in recent months, where major pig processors have closed for extended periods. Thousands of pigs have been euthanised on-farm and prices have fallen dramatically, yet the need to feed Americans in-need has been more critical than ever. We are very grateful that by working together, we’ve avoided that sort of devastating scenario in Australia.”

Pork provided to Foodbank has included sausages, roasts, mince and forequarter chops, totalling 23,685 kilograms of made-to-order pork products over a three-and-a-half-month period. Based on this success, APL and industry wholesalers are looking at ways to continue working with Foodbank.

Foodbank Australia National Program Manager – Agriculture, Ms Jacqui Payne, explained how significant this supply has been to the Foodbank network nationally and to food relief recipients.

“We’re so grateful to APL and all the local wholesalers who have supported Foodbank through this period. Having a regular, reliable supply of a high-demand protein product such as pork takes the ‘surprise’ out of our supply chain and goes a long way in helping us end hunger in Australia.”

Melissa Parker from Mastercut Meats said the wholesaler, which has been supplying pork for distribution in NSW and the ACT, was keen to continue supporting Foodbank.

“As a family business, we’re always looking for ways to give back to the community,” Ms Parker said.

“This has been a fantastic opportunity to support Foodbank with supplies of premium Australian pork, helping those in need during this time of crisis, and also supporting our supply chain, our employees and Australian pork producers.”