Local heroes to the rescue

Life Health Foods, a division of Sanitarium Health Food Company, has donated NZ$59,000 (approx. US$38,000) to support food and nutrition security in New Zealand through its flagship kitchen soups brand, Naked Locals.

A “Local Heroes” campaign donated 20c from every soup pack sold, contributing to the vital work of four New Zealand charities who offer nutritious meals to Kiwis in need.

Donated proceeds from Naked Locals’ Lentil, Potato & Caramelised Onion Soup helped Satisfy Food Rescue to purchase a new delivery van and provide over 27,000 additional meals to people in need in Kaiapoi.

“We’ve distributed the equivalent of more than 1.3 million meals so far, and we know the funds from the Local Heroes campaign will help us do even more,” said Stef Van Meer, Satisfy Food Rescue manager.

Donations from sales of the hearty Farmer’s Market Vege & Quinoa Soup were gifted to Everybody Eats, a pay-as-you-feel dining concept based in Auckland, Tauranga, and Wellington, which uses surplus food to serve chef-prepared meals. 

The proceeds from sales of Kumara & Coconut Soup were donated to Gizzy Kai, a Gisborne-based not-for-profit food rescue organization.

Food rescue charity Fair Food joined the partnership in April 2022, when Life Health Foods’ Pumpkin & Kumara soup was launched. Fair Food, based in West Auckland, distributed over 2.2 million meals to the community in 2021.

“Since 2011, we’ve been recovering surplus food and distributing this to those who need it most,” said Melissa Crawford, board chair for Fair Food Trust. “The Naked Locals’ Local Heroes initiative is a welcome partnership that I hope will help us increase our community impact.”

Naked Locals will continue to support Fair Food and Satisfy Food Rescue during the next financial year, with up to NZ$20,000 (approx. US$13,000) to be donated to each partner.

The original version of this story was posted on the Adventist Record website.