Kai Commitment

I recently stood on stage at RVA Conference 2026 next to my superstar PhD candidate, Elena Piere, to share results from our Waste Less, Care More project. 🎤 The headline: a 26% reduction in food waste across participating retirement villages, more than double the government's target! But food waste and sustainability rarely exist in isolation - they constantly intersect with other operational priorities like food safety. A menu change to cut waste, a tweak to kitchen processes - each one has food safety implications too. So alongside the waste story, I also shared a look at what we're doing in the food safety culture space, and why joined-up thinking across these areas matters for the sector. With NZ's 65+ population set to hit 1.35 million by 2042, demand in this sector will only grow, and the operational and environmental stakes will only get bigger. Great to see so many village managers and sector leaders in the room genuinely engaging with these sorts of challenges. Thanks to Maggie Owens and Amanda Boyd for the invite. Fantastic event, RVA team! 🙌

Two Kai Commitment team members in the same town? Instead of catching up over coffee, we decided to spend the morning volunteering with Baskets of Blessings in Arrowtown and learn more about the local food rescue and community support ecosystem.  Together, Trixie Croad and I helped prepare soup for meal packs, pack chocolates for gift baskets, and unload food donations delivered by KiwiHarvest Queenstown & Central Lakes, including supplies from the New Zealand Food Network.  Baskets of Blessings provides meals, groceries, and gift baskets to people in need across the region, from Kingston up to Glenorchy and through to Alexandra. Seeing the scale of their impact firsthand was a powerful reminder of the important role community organisations play in supporting whānau while helping reduce food waste.  What stood out most was the collaboration. Local organisations like Baskets of Blessings, and Kai Commitment partners KiwiHarvest and New Zealand Food Network, as well as all of the food donors big and small demonstrate how working together can create meaningful change, strengthen communities, and ensure good food reaches those who need it most! Ka rawe for all your mahi, Baskets of Blessings, and thank you for having us. 

Two in five New Zealanders misunderstand date labels, leading to good food being thrown away unnecessarily. To help tackle this, we've launched Sniff, Look, Taste in New Zealand and are trialling an on-pack logo on selected MAGGI 2 Minute Noodles packs nationwide. It's a simple reminder to check the date label and, where appropriate, use a quick sniff, look and taste check before deciding whether food should be thrown away. Together with New Zealand Food Network, we're helping keep good food on plates, not in bins. Learn more here: https://shorturl.at/OZVwF #NestleNZ #NZFoodNetwork #SniffLookTaste #FoodWasteReduction

What does 'trading in turbulent times' mean for Hawke’s Bay's food, beverage and agritech businesses? Trade rules continue to shift and supply chains face hurdles, all magnified by international tensions. Our next Hawke’s Bay Innovation Club breakfast will look at what that changing global landscape means in practice, with insights from international trade specialist Stephen Jacobi. Stephen will explore what New Zealand businesses should be watching, how shifting market conditions affect exporters, and how the impact affects those working in the domestic market. He will be joined by Craig Sims, chief executive of Craggy Range Vineyards, bringing a sharp Hawke’s Bay business perspective on navigating the complex trade world we are operating in. For our region’s food, beverage and agritech sector, this is a chance to step back from the day-to-day and consider what global trade change could mean for local businesses, planning and future opportunities. Innovation Club: Trading in turbulent times Thursday 3 September 7.30am to 9am Foodeast Haumako, Hanui Road, Hastings Ticket link: https://lnkd.in/e_ybCTSS

Really enjoyed being a subject matter expert at the Aotearoa AI Hackathon Festival at EPIC Innovation over the past two days, with Woolworths New Zealand, one of our Kai Commitment signatories, supporting the event as a sponsor and putting food waste forward as an SDG12.3 challenge for teams to explore. Five teams came together around the 5 Ps - People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership – to explore how AI could help tackle real-world challenges. Some great ideas emerged, from a personalised pantry and menu-planning app, to tools supporting bullying, disaster management, immigration and settlement, and smarter wholesale procurement. What stood out to me was the enthusiasm and collaboration, people coming together, forming teams, testing ideas and exploring what AI can actually do. Really inspiring to see so many people using technology to try to make a difference. Look forward to seeing which Christchurch team makes it through to the national final in Wellington!

Turning food waste into future solutions It was inspiring to meet with Jade, Aislinn and Thea from the University of Canterbury NanoBrew team and learn about their work exploring how spent brewer’s grain, a significant brewing by-product generally used as stock feed, could be transformed into nanocellulose and other high-value applications. What stood out was how iGEM, the global synthetic biology competition, brought together students from different disciplines, biochemistry, biology and engineering, to tackle a real-world challenge. They chose waste and asked a powerful question: “What value could this material still have?” This is exactly the kind of thinking we need for a more circular economy, seeing waste streams as resources waiting to be unlocked. Thank you for sharing your team’s work and vision. It was inspiring to see the curiosity, collaboration and innovation driving a different way of thinking about waste. Wishing you all the best for the next stage, I can’t wait to see where this takes you! https://lnkd.in/e_Ze63SW #FoodWaste #CircularEconomy #innovation #Sustainability #iGEM #UCResearch