Nu-Pure Partners with Foodbank

September 2021

Foodbank is excited to announce their latest partnership with Nu-Pure Beverages.

Nu-Pure Beverages is a family-owned business that manufactures 100% Australian-made beverages. Founded in 2005, they are the experts in spring water. Nu-Pure water is sourced from specially selected pristine Australian springs and has a natural and nourishing balance of minerals.

Brianna Casey, CEO of Foodbank Australia said, “We are delighted to welcome Nu-Pure into the Foodbank family. Water is absolutely an essential item that we need to have available for people in times of crisis. It’s even more important during times of natural disaster, when people can be cut off from clean water entirely.”

COVID-19 and economic uncertainty have created new needs while putting enormous pressure on non-profit organisations. As a result, it has become increasingly crucial for Foodbank to have impactful partnerships like this one with Nu-Pure to help make a difference.

Most recently, Nu-Pure donated water to Foodbank Victoria to assist during the latest lockdown.

Barry Hamilton, Owner and Managing Director of Nu-Pure Beverages, said, “Donating water has been a great way for Nu-Pure to support Foodbank, have a meaningful impact and give back to the community. We look forward to continuing to work on this partnership.”

Together we hope to support more people in the community by providing

water for healthy, natural hydration.

Media enquiries

Rebecca Collins
Foodbank Australia
M +61 409 786 132
E rebecca@foodbank.org.au

Nescafé Blend 43 to roast more than 12 million cups of coffee for Foodbank

Nestlé’s iconic coffee brand Nescafé Blend 43 has announced a new partnership with Foodbank which will see 220,000 custom Foodbank Nescafé tins – or 12.5 million cups of coffee – distributed to people in need.

Manufactured in Gympie Queensland, the dedicated 100g tins of Nescafé Blend 43 will help ensure a reliable supply of coffee to Foodbank across Australia from September 2021.

Foodbank Australia CEO, Brianna Casey, said that for many Australians faced with food insecurity, coffee can be one of the first items that they forego.

Coffee is consistently one of the most in-demand items for our network of food relief charities across the country, as a humble cup of coffee can have far more benefits than a morning caffeine hit.

“We find that many of the people we support often become socially isolated. Having coffee in the cupboard can play a significant role in helping to keep people connected – and this collaboration will mean we can ensure a reliable supply”

– Foodbank Australia CEO, Brianna Casey.

Nestlé General Manager of Beverages, Andrew McIver, said that Nestlé understands the significance of a cup of coffee and is proud to be working with Foodbank to create a bespoke product for vulnerable Australians.

“We’re really proud to be able to work with Foodbank and manufacture a bespoke Nescafé Blend 43 product for Foodbank. We understand the simple pleasure that a cup of coffee can bring – one that many of us often take for granted – and we believe it’s something everyone should be able to enjoy.” said Nestlé General Manager of Beverages, Andrew McIver.

Nescafé has long been committed to helping bring people together. While that may not be possible for all Aussies to do right now, a hot cuppa can often be just the ticket to also take an important break – which is something many of us need now, more than ever.

– Nestlé General Manager of Beverages, Andrew McIver

Foodbank’s in each state and territory have been working around the clock to ensure food and groceries continue to get to where they are needed the most.

9th September 2021

Over the past four months we have truly felt the impact of Delta. South Australia, Northern Territory and parts of Queensland were thrust into snap lockdowns, while ACT, Victoria and NSW continue to experience extended lockdowns with harsh restrictions.

Foodbank NSW & ACT reported an increase of more than 200% in the demand for food relief. They have received more than 20,000 requests for food hampers from international students since 6th July and more than 41,000 emergency relief hampers have been delivered throughout the state in the past 8-9 weeks thanks to the Resilience NSW, NSW police force, and help from NSW State Emergency Service and Australian Defence Force who stepped up to pack hampers at the warehouse.

Meanwhile in Victoria’s sixth lockdown, the team continue to work with the Australian Red Cross to distribute emergency relief hampers. Up until recently, Foodbank Victoria opened their warehouse doors on several occasions to offer a Covid-safe, drive-thru hamper collection. Unfortunately, during the last drive-thru on August 20th it was shut down by police 90 minutes into operations, due to overwhelming demand. The traffic queuing to enter the warehouse was banked up to the point it became a public safety issue. Despite 520 cars through and 1482 hampers distributed, there were nearly 1,000 cars turned away, signally the demand for food relief is only growing. The team are seeing the same demand its International Student Pop Up Store which is experiencing a 42% increase in students accessing the free food relief pop up in Melbourne.

Foodbank Australia is so grateful to all our supporters – our national donors and partners who stepped up and continue to offer support to ensure every community has access to emergency food relief now, and for as long as it is needed.

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!

600,000 meals for hungry Australians: Mars Food Australia launches Collaborative Supply Program with Foodbank

27th July 2021

Mars Food Australia and Foodbank have launched a new partnership that will help provide more than 600,000 meals to Australians in need this year.

During the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, the demand for food relief increased by 47 per cent, with three in 10 of food insecure Australians facing hunger for the first time in their lives.

Foodbank Australia CEO, Brianna Casey, said this new collaborative supply program with Mars Food Australia will help Foodbank better respond to the increasing demand for food relief. Providing a steady, planned supply of food products will help meet the huge logistical challenge of getting food to hundreds of thousands of Australians doing it tough.

“This program helps Foodbank turn our food and grocery ‘surprise chain’ based on ad hoc donations and unpredictable food rescue opportunities, into a predictable, reliable ‘supply chain’,” Ms Casey said.

General Manager of Mars Food Australia, Mr Bill Heague, with some of the sauces being produced for Foodbank.

“Foodbank has never been more important than it is right now. We’re responsible for ensuring essential food relief can remain available in spite of lockdowns, border closures and panic buying.

“Unpredictable employment patterns and the broader economic fallout from COVID-19 has meant we have had to increase the quantity of food we’re providing to Australians from all walks of life. Partnerships like this with Mars Food Australia are vital in helping us meet this growing need,” she said.

Mars Food Australia is donating some of its most popular products, chosen for their versatility in the kitchen and ability to help create easy and tasty meals with ingredients commonly also available through food relief.

General Manager of Mars Food Australia, Mr Bill Heague, said Mars is committed to helping alleviate the growing hunger problem in Australia.

“Last year, through our monthly ad hoc Foodbank donations, we delivered 265,700 meals to people in need. But the pandemic made food insecurity an even bigger issue in our society, and we knew we could do more. We talked with Foodbank about what help they needed most, and a consistent supply of food products came out on top,” Mr Heague said.

“Keeping Australians healthy by providing dinnertime meals is a key ongoing goal for our company. This year we will increase our contribution by providing recipe bases and sauces for 600,000 meals for people in need through Foodbank, and we hope to grow this contribution even further in the future.

“It will help us achieve our goal of reducing the number of individuals and families who are struggling with food insecurity and going through difficult times.

“I’m a firm believer that dinner time matters, because we know that finding opportunities to cook and share meals with family and friends is good for both physical and mental wellbeing. It’s the foundation of our food business, side by side with providing healthy, easy, affordable and tasty meal options,” Mr Heague said.

Globally, Mars Incorporated is committed to delivering 25 million meals to people in need of a healthy meal, by 2025. Here in Australia that means one million meals for Australians by the end of 2021. The new Foodbank partnership will deliver 60 per cent of this goal.

As part of the new agreement with Foodbank, Mars will donate 175,000 jars and bottles of dinnertime products to Foodbank including Dolmio Bolognese and Carbonara Sauce, Kan Tong Butter Chicken Simmer Sauce and MasterFoods tomato sauce. These products alone contain 689,280 serves of vegetables.

-Ends-

Media enquiries

Rebecca Collins
Foodbank Australia
E rebecca@foodbank.org.au
M +61 409 786 132

Vianney Segedin
Bite Communications
E vianney@bitecom.com.au
P +61 2 9977 8195
M +61 451 811 465

Nestlé helps to make 1.2m meals with first-ever custom product for Foodbank

Nestlé has proudly partnered with Foodbank to create the first ever designed-for-Foodbank custom product, with more than 1.2 million serves being made to help support people in need.

19th May 2021

MAGGI Hearty One Pot Casserole is a recipe base that turns almost any combination of protein and vegetables into a delicious meal for six. By partnering with Foodbank, this versatile product will help people who’ve received food relief to create a delicious meal from the food they receive, and minimise food waste.

MAGGI Hearty One Pot Casserole recipe base was made possible thanks to a team of 12 partners brought together as part of Foodbank’s unique MAGGI Collaborative Supply Program: Olam Spices, GrainCorp Foods, Fonterra, GS Hall, Dominion Salt, NZ Sugar, Tate & Lyle, Boxer & Co, Huhtamaki, Labelmakers, Oji Fibre Solutions and Nestlé.

Each partner donated their resources and time to create this product that will go directly to Foodbank and the charities they support. The recipe base was proudly developed and produced by Nestlé in Cambria Park, NZ.

Foodbank Australia CEO, Brianna Casey said, “Food insecurity continues to be a very real issue for many people as they struggle day-to-day to make ends meet.

“Foodbank receives a huge range of donated food every day. MAGGI Hearty One Pot Casserole recipe base will be the ultimate value-add, enabling people to easily prepare wholesome, tasty meals.

“The past 12 months have been exceptionally challenging. In fact, in 2020 we saw a 47% increase in demand for food relief from pre-COVID-19. Many people continue to face financial pressures – and thousands have been affected by recent floods, as well as those still recovering from the bushfires last year.

“We are so grateful to Nestlé and other partners who have led the creation of this product, and so generously donated their goods and services.”

Nestlé General Manager of Foods, Kristina Czepl said, “We understand that food relief depends on what is available, and people can get a mix of items and not necessarily know how to turn them into a nutritious meal.

“Our team is passionate about supporting the community and relished the opportunity to put together a product that is versatile so that people can use any ingredients they have or that are affordable, to create a nutritious meal – that’s delicious too.

“The development of MAGGI Hearty One Pot Casserole recipe base would not have been possible without the support and generous donations of our partners in the supply chain.”

The MAGGI Hearty One Pot Casserole recipe base, which features a tomato and mushroom flavour profile, will be rolled out in the new MAGGI recyclable packaging to Foodbanks across Australia and New Zealand from late May 2021.

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

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.
Add onion, carrot and celery to pan. Cook, stirring, for 5 mins or until onion softens. Return beef to pan.
In a small jug combine tomatoes and MAGGI recipe base, add to pan with beef stock. Bring to the boil.
Reduce heat to low. Cook, covered, for 2 hours or until the beef is very tender. Serve.

MAGGI HEARTY ONE-POT CASSEROLE FOR FOODBANK

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

Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C.
Combine tomato paste and MAGGI recipe base in a small bowl.
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.
Bake for 1 hour or until chicken is cooked through. Stir in spinach and serve.

MAGGI HEARTY ONE-POT CASSEROLE FOR FOODBANK

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

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

MAGGI HEARTY ONE-POT CASSEROLE FOR FOODBANK

Foodbank sourced record amount of food and grocery relief in 2020

4^th FEBRUARY 2021: Foodbank revealed today it sourced a record amount of food and groceries in 2020 to meet the higher demand for food relief due to COVID-19.

Last year, Foodbank obtained 48.8 million kilograms of food and groceries via both donations from the food and grocery sector and the purchase of key staple items, thanks to funding from the Federal Government, corporate Australia and individuals. This record volume of food and groceries equates to 87.9 million meals – an increase of nearly 15 percent on 2019, enabling Foodbank to generate a social return on its activities worth more than $1 billion.

COVID-19 continues to have a devastating impact on many Australians, temporary residents and international students. In March 2020, when the pandemic hit, Foodbank was forced to upscale fast to meet the immediate demand for food relief. Charities reported demand for food and grocery relief increased by an average of 47% throughout the year as businesses closed and jobs were lost. The Foodbank Hunger Report 2020 released in October, revealed more than a quarter (28%) of those experiencing food insecurity due the pandemic had never faced it before.

Foodbank Australia CEO, Brianna Casey, says it has been an incredibly demanding period and the organisation could not have met the urgent need without such widespread and significant support.

“We are so grateful to our very generous donors and partners, who continue to enable us to source essential items and ensure we can quickly get them to those who need them the most. Last year saw us face one crisis after another; off the back of a persistent drought and the catastrophic Black Summer fires, we then had to reach out and ask for even more support in March when COVID-19 hit and unemployment rates skyrocketed.

“In a ‘normal’ year, Foodbank provides relief to more than 815,000 Aussies every month, but 2020 wasn’t a normal year and in the three months from April to July, Foodbank purchased more food and groceries than we had in the previous three years. Without our donors and partners, and the support of the Federal Government, we simply couldn’t have responded in the way we did.”

Foodbank provides food and groceries to over 2,400 charities and 2,500 schools. More than 40% of all food and groceries distributed by Foodbank nationally goes to regional and rural communities. The leading hunger relief organisation works with the entire Australian food and grocery sector including farmers, wholesalers, manufacturers, and retailers who donate and redirect surplus product so it can be distributed and those who need it most via Australia’s charity network.

Foodbank accepts donations of ambient, chilled, fresh food, private label products and personal and household care items. Products may be out of specification, close to expiry, deleted product, surplus to requirement or have damaged or incorrect packaging. If your organisation can help Foodbank provide food and groceries to vulnerable members in our communities, please email supplychain@foodbank.org.au