What KiwiHarvest does

KiwiHarvest is a New Zealand registered charity founded in 2012 by Deborah Manning in Dunedin that operates a national food-rescue operation, collecting surplus food from commercial donors — including supermarkets, manufacturers, distributors, and hospitality operators — and redistributing it to approximately 235 recipient charities across New Zealand. The organisation runs a hub-and-spoke logistics model built on a fleet of refrigerated vehicles, with its head office in Auckland and a second hub opened in Invercargill (Southland) in 2024. At operational peak, KiwiHarvest rescues approximately 300,000 kg of food per month and projects roughly 4 million kilograms rescued annually in the 2025/2026 fiscal year. The donor base includes Woolworths, Foodstuffs NZ (Pak'nSave, New World, Four Square), Costco, HelloFresh, IHG Hotels, Queenstown Airport, and corporate partners such as JAC Trucks (supplying emission-free delivery vehicles) and Rabobank.

As a non-profit, KiwiHarvest does not generate transactional revenue; its operating model is funded through grants, donations, and in-kind corporate support, with fundraising led by Anne-Marie Friis under CEO Angela Calver and chairman David Kirk. Founder Deborah Manning continues involvement and was recognised in the 2024 King's Birthday Honours for services to food rescue; the organisation also received the Business East Tamaki award in 2024. Adjacent programmes such as the Chef Collective — which trains recipient charity staff to use rescued surplus — indicate investment in recipient-side capability, while corporate ESG partnerships (JAC Trucks, IHG Hotels, Queenstown Airport) suggest broadening institutional donor engagement beyond traditional grocery supply.

Name

KiwiHarvest

Legal name

KiwiHarvest

Website

https://kiwiharvest.org.nz

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

KiwiHarvest is a New Zealand non-profit founded in 2012 that collects surplus food from commercial donors — supermarkets, manufacturers, distributors, and hospitality operators — and redistributes it to roughly 235 recipient charities nationwide, rescuing approximately 4 million kilograms of food annually.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Food Rescue and Redistribution Services

NAICS

Community Food Services (624210)

akta.pro primary industry

Donation, Reuse & Sustainability Returns Programs (TLAIAHAJ)

Keywords

• Food rescue services
• Surplus food redistribution
• Nonprofit food charity
• Food waste reduction
• Community food support

Headquarters

HQ city

Auckland

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: KiwiHarvest operates as a charitable organization funded through donations from individuals, corporate sponsors, and government grants.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

KiwiHarvest collects quality surplus food from corporate donors including supermarkets, food manufacturers, distributors, and hospitality businesses before it reaches landfill, then redistributes it to approximately 235 recipient charities and community organizations across New Zealand. Operations are supported by a refrigerated vehicle fleet and nationwide logistics network, with the food provided free of charge to recipient organizations.

Product overview

KiwiHarvest operates as a single unified food rescue and redistribution service (not a software platform). The organization collects quality surplus food from donors across New Zealand and redistributes it to approximately 235 recipient charities. The core service is supported by the Chef Collective program, which leverages celebrity chefs for fundraising and awareness, and a corporate partnership program that enables businesses to meet ESG goals through food waste reduction. The organization operates a fleet of refrigerated vehicles and maintains strict food safety protocols.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Food Rescue and Redistribution Service Core service that collects quality surplus food from supermarkets, food manufacturers, distributors, and hospitality businesses before it reaches landfill and redistributes it free of charge to 235 recipient charities and community organizations across New Zealand.
• Chef Collective

Quantifiable outcome

• 20,024,461 kg of food rescued since 2012
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• HelloFreshcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHelloFresh has been a proud partner of KiwiHarvest since 2018, working together to reduce food waste and feed hungry families. The partnership involves food donations from HelloFresh operations.
• JAC TruckscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerJAC Trucks supports KiwiHarvest with emission-free deliveries through their partnership, providing trucks for the organization's food rescue distribution fleet.
• IHG Hotels & ResortsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerIHG Hotels & Resorts launched its third annual 'Stay for Good' campaign in support of OzHarvest and its New Zealand-based sister organisation KiwiHarvest, to donate meals to people in need.
• Queenstown AirportminorGTM or Marketing PartnerQueenstown Airport partnered with KiwiHarvest to help the community and reduce food waste through their 'Making every bite count' initiative.
• WoolworthscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerMajor supermarket chain and food donor to KiwiHarvest, contributing surplus food for redistribution to those in need.
• Foodstuffs NZcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerParent company of Pak'nSave, New World, and Four Square supermarkets; major food donor partner providing surplus food for rescue operations.
• CostcominorGTM or Marketing PartnerSupermarket and warehouse retailer donating surplus food to KiwiHarvest for redistribution.
• RabobankminorGTM or Marketing PartnerRabobank partnered with KiwiHarvest for the Food Waste Survey, demonstrating commitment to agricultural sustainability and food waste reduction.
• Chef Collective (KiwiHarvest Collective)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRenowned chefs including Peter Gordon, Michael Meredith, Brent Martin, and others support KiwiHarvest through the Chef Collective, preparing rescued food for events and raising awareness.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Too Good To Go: Global marketplace app that lets consumers purchase surplus restaurant/grocery food at discounted prices. Tackles the same food-waste problem as KiwiHarvest via a B2C surplus-resale model rather than charity redistribution; useful benchmark for consumer-side food-waste behaviour.
• Olio: UK food-sharing app connecting neighbours and retailers to redistribute surplus food; has a specific Olio Food programme for corporate-to-charity surplus food redirection. Overlaps with KiwiHarvest on retail-surplus rescue, but delivers via peer-to-peer sharing rather than refrigerated logistics.

Direct peers

• City Harvest: New York City's largest food rescue organization; rescues surplus food from restaurants, grocers, manufacturers and delivers to a network of soup kitchens and pantries. Directly comparable mission (rescue + redistribute) and beneficiary model to KiwiHarvest, scaled to a much larger urban environment.
• OzHarvest: Australia's largest food rescue charity and explicitly KiwiHarvest's sister organisation (per IHG's joint "Stay for Good" programme). Operates the same surplus-food-collection-from-retailers-and-redistribution-to-charities model across Australia, making it the closest direct peer in mission, operating model, and customer/donor types.
• FoodCloud: Ireland-based social enterprise that connects retailers with surplus food to charities via a tech platform; also redistributes through a parallel community food programme. Closely comparable end-to-end operating model (rescue → re-distribute to charities), with a more tech-mediated matching component.
• The Felix Project: London-based food rescue charity that collects surplus food from suppliers and delivers it to charities and schools. Operates a nearly identical surplus-collection + refrigerated-distribution model to KiwiHarvest, with similar target beneficiaries (vulnerable communities via third-party charities).
• SecondBite: Australian food rescue non-profit redistributing surplus food from supermarkets, manufacturers and producers to community groups across Australia. Highly comparable in donor types (Coles, Woolworths AU), volunteer-driven refrigerated logistics, and charity-recipient redistribution model.

Broad incumbents

• Foodbank Australia: Largest hunger-relief food bank network in Australia; collects surplus food from manufacturers, retailers, and farms then redistributes via a nationwide charity network. Comparable in customer/donor base to KiwiHarvest but at materially greater scale and with broader scope including food provision, advocacy, and national infrastructure.
• Feeding America: Largest US hunger-relief organisation, running a nationwide network of 200+ food banks sourcing from retailers and manufacturers. Operates at vastly greater scale and includes both food banking and food rescue, but shares the same core surplus-redistribution-to-charities value proposition relevant to KiwiHarvest's space.
• FareShare UK: UK charity that redistributes surplus food to community organisations; operates large regional production kitchens that turn rescued ingredients into meals. Comparable in surplus-redistribution mission and charity-network customer base, but adds an in-house cooking capability KiwiHarvest does not perform.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about KiwiHarvest