Applications are currently closed
We called for expressions of interest (EOI) from organisations to develop and deliver large-scale, national-level behaviour-change programmes that reduce food waste and emissions. Find out about organisations to receive funding so far and their mahi.
Up to $ 8.3 million across 3 work programmes
The programmes will aim to reduce food waste in three settings: households; Māori-led settings (such as marae, kōhango reo, kura kaupapa, papakāinga) and businesses.
Four organisations have so far been announced to receive a total of $4.6 million in funding. This will contribute to reducing food waste by 10 per cent.
The organisations to receive funding will be designing, developing and delivering programmes that reduce food waste over a three-year period.
| Funding recipient | Project name | Project description | Government contribution |
| WasteMINZ | Love Food Hate Waste New Zealand – Reducing Food Waste in the Household Sector | The project aims to deliver multimedia campaigns to support householders nationwide to reduce food waste. The campaigns will use the Love Food Hate Waste New Zealand brand (established in 2016) which is a trusted source for messaging on how to reduce food waste. It is supported by 52 councils and the wider WasteMINZ membership. The project will also look for opportunities to work with other organisations to maximise scale and impact. | $2,880,000 |
| NZ Food Waste Champions 12.3 Trust (NZFWC12.3) | Kai Commitment | NZFWC12.3 will deliver Kai Commitment, a national voluntary agreement between food businesses to reduce food waste and emissions from food waste. Signatories will be supported to use the framework ‘Target, Measure, Act’ – to set targets, measure results (using the United Nations Food Loss and Waste Protocol) and take action based on results. | $750,000 |
| Para Kore Marae Incorporated | Whangaihia te Whānau – Wei Aha te Moumou Kai | The project is a Māori-led initiative driving reduction of food waste in Māori-led settings across Aotearoa New Zealand through Para Kore’s Para Kai Programme. The Ministry’s three-year funding contribution to this project will support the early research and development of the Para Kai Programme and delivery in Māori-led settings. This will contribute to increasing mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) in food waste reduction and food systems. | $750,000 |
| University of Otago (as lead for a consortium including the Retirement Villages Association, Arvida and Bupa) | Reducing Food Waste in the Retirement Sector | The aged-care sector provides an estimated 30 million lunch and dinner meals a year. It is estimated that around 11 per cent of the sector’s landfill waste is food. This means that on average 3.5kg of food is wasted per resident each week. Led by Food Waste Innovation, a research group within the University of Otago, the purpose of the project is to address this issue by taking a sector-wide approach. It has three stages: research, design and testing of a range of interventions, and implementation of the most successful to reduce food waste in commercial kitchens within the retirement sector. | $230,000 |
| Total Government contribution | $4,610,000 |
Download the literature review on the effectiveness of existing international initiatives to reduce household and business food waste.