Demand on foodbanks increased in 2025, with no sign of letting up. Photo: 123rf
A meal base that can turn almost any assortment of vegetables and proteins into a one-pot meal is being distributed to foodbanks.
The New Zealand Food Network has teamed up with Nestlé to help families in need make a nutritious meal from scratch with food parcel ingredients.
The network's chief executive Gavin Findlay said it's a concept that has been successful with foodbanks in Australia.
"It's a good healthy product that's easy to use. A lot of our community's access and capability of cooking can be challenged if they're in transitional housing or hotels/motels while they're waiting," he said.
Nestlé is manufacturing and donating the meal base sachets, which can be used as a soup or to make a hearty casserole.
"You're not making a meal per se, it's a dried sachet product that you're just adding water to. If you've got a kettle and a cup you're there," Findlay said.
"This is intentional giving, this is a company saying what can we do to help your community who's struggling."
Nestlé New Zealand chief executive Susan Catania said the one-pot meal base had been a success with foodbanks in Australia.
Photo: Supplied
"We know that food insecurity is real and is increasing but we've also learned through the partnership [with the NZ Food Network] that food relief often depends on what's available in any given week," she said.
"That means people might not know what to do with the mix of items that they get. We really wanted to create a product that would create a versatile meal no matter what mix of proteins, vegetables or pantry items you had on any given week."
Over the past five years, Nestlé has donated more than 497,000 kilograms of food for the Food Network to distribute to 65 foodbanks and food charities - the equivalent of over 1.1 million meals.
Catania said the meal base would be part of their ongoing partnership.
"We know that now is the right time because the holiday season can be a tough time for a lot ofpeople so this really helps make it a little easier for families to put food on the table."
Demand on foodbanks has been increasing with no sign of let up - and food charities have been calling for ongoing government funding instead of one-off grants.
The Food Network began in 2020 during the pandemic when the country needed a national organisation to collect and distribute surplus edible food that manufacturers and growers cannot sell.
The network then shares the food amongst food charities that distribute parcels to their communities.
It received a $5.8 million grant from the Ministry of Social Development but does not know if that will be extended past July 2026.
Shelves of donated food in the south Auckland storage and operations warehouse of the New Zealand Food Network. Photo: Bonnie Harrison
Findlay said more edible food would go to landfill if they could not maintain the current level of service.
"The baseline of people needing some form of support is actually quite high. We thought it was going to drop down post Covid but the cost of living environment means that hasn't happened and in fact has trended up slightly," he said.
"We see no let up in the need for helping those that require food support."
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