According to a report last year by Foodbank Australia, one in three Australians are going hungry – unable to regularly access enough food to live a healthy life. The bleak figure can be attributed to the cost-of-living crisis, inflation and housing stress, forcing many households and people sleeping rough to choose between basic needs. Across the FMCG sector, food donations have become commonplace, but less common are investments in the systems that allow charities to store, prepare and
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According to a report last year by Foodbank Australia, one in three Australians are going hungry – unable to regularly access enough food to live a healthy life. The bleak figure can be attributed to the cost-of-living crisis, inflation and housing stress, forcing many households and people sleeping rough to choose between basic needs. Across the FMCG sector, food donations have become commonplace, but less common are investments in the systems that allow charities to store, prepare and distribute that food. Giving food, albeit important, is one thing, but funding the kitchens, ideas and sustainability that keep it moving is another. This week, yogurt company Chobani announced a second year of The Big Difference grant, where they will invest up to $150,000 in Victorian community organisations tackling food insecurity by improving food access and strengthening the systems behind it. Since its foundation in 1994, Foodbank has partnered with Australia’s largest retailers including Aldi, Woolworths, Sanitarium and Nestle, many of whom continue to support the charity through corporate funding and in store fundraisers. Chobani’s proposition however, is a little different. The yogurt brands grant supports four focus areas, including building capacity, testing new ideas, scaling proven models and strengthening organisational sustainability. It is, according to Chobani, designed to support lasting change, rather than short-term food relief. “Food companies have an important role to play, but it needs to be a role that is grounded in partnership and that backs in the experts.” Chobani’s general manager of ESG told Inside FMCG. “FMCG businesses have assets and expertise that can be useful; products, funding, supply-chain knowledge and the ability to bring attention to good work already happening in communities.” Last year, The Big Difference funded four organisations including Ecucha Neighbourhood house, where it invested $50,000 in a cool room freezer infrastructure. The grant also funded a 30,000 kitchen and pantry upgrade for Southern Peninsula Community Support. “What we’ve learned through our social impact work is that access to good food depends on much more than the food itself. It also depends on the systems behind it; how food is stored, moved, prepared, distributed and made available to the people who need it.” Browne ascertained that many of the grass roots community organisations already had the local understanding and trust within their communities, he also brings it back to fundamentals, what they truly needed was practical support or funding to support what was already working for them “or to bring new ideas and solutions for their communities to life.” he said.After committing 150,000 across the organisations, Chobani has measured what has actually made a difference and whether the program is working. “We stay in close contact with recipients and look at impact over time,” Browne said. “Some outcomes are quantitative, like increased storage capacity, more food distributed, more families supported, or stronger infrastructure. Some are qualitative, whether a project has helped an organisation become more reliable, more resilient or better able to respond to community needs.”Chobani is not alone in moving beyond traditional food donations. Last year, Mars Food & Nutrition Australia expanded its program with Foodbank Australia and committed to provide 4.4 million meals this year and more than 16.1 million meals since the initiative began in 2021. Zambrero has taken an alternative approach, embedding food relief directly into every purchase through its Plate4Plate initiative. Every burrito, bowl and retail item sold funds a meal for someone experiencing food insecurity through partners including Rise Against Hunger, Love Mercy and also Foodbank. Building something that lasts Food insecurity continues to affect one in three Australian households, and community organisations are facing scarce demand as could have imagined just a few years ago, while specialist homelessness services are now supporting almost 289,000 Australians each year. For Browne, product donations will always remain part of the solution, but they should not be the only one. “If the sector only thinks in terms of short-term product support, we risk missing the bigger opportunity,” he said. Investments in storage, transport, kitchens and community food hubs, he explained, strengthen the organisations people rely on every day and continue delivering benefits long after a grant has been spent. In this case, permanence outweighs generosity. Food fills an empty pantry for a day but a cool room, a kitchen or a stronger distribution network can help feed a community for years.
