How food banks like SecondBite feed the pandemic needy, with help from Coles

Food charity SecondBite’s tie-up with Coles is helping to deliver millions of meals as pressure builds on struggling Australians.

MasterChef Australia 2021 judge Jock Zonfrillo at a SecondBite warehouse in Melbourne. Picture: Supplied

Simone Carson, the co-founder of food bank charity SecondBite, says an explosion of demand from households struggling to put food on the table in the pandemic is putting pressure on its services, especially in regional areas.

“Even before Covid one in five Australians were recognised to be affected by food insecurity,” Ms Carson said. “That means they didn’t have enough access to safe nutritious food and needed regular supply, but the last 18 months really have been especially hard across Australia.

“It was Covid and people still recovering from bushfires of the previous 12 months and lockdowns have made it harder to reach vulnerable people across our country, agencies have had fewer volunteers to collect and distribute food and vulnerable people are afraid to leave their homes sometimes.”

SecondBite and the needy Australians it helps are beneficiaries of food donations by Coles which, according to the supermarket giant’s sustainability and annual reports, donated record food volumes equivalent to almost 36 million meals to its community partners.

The food donations were a key component of Coles’ community contribution in 2021, as it worked with customers, staff and suppliers to distribute $143m in support to communities across Australia.

That $143m comprised more than $124.4m from Coles in cash, in-kind support, management costs and time, and $18.6m contributed by Coles’ customers, staff and suppliers from activities such as fundraising.

Coles said its in-kind support included more than 18m kilograms in food donations to community partners SecondBite and Foodbank. It built on the equivalent of 185.2m meals to people in need since forming partnerships with SecondBite in 2011 and Foodbank in 2003.

“Many people have lost their work, as well all know, their livelihoods, due to Covid, restrictions and lockdowns and there is no more government assistance programs and it has put a lot of families on the brink,” said Ms Carson.

“Demand for food has skyrocketed. In June almost 80 per cent of the food relief programs surveyed saw an increase in demand for food programs compared to last year. We would never have been able to respond and get that fresh produce if it wasn‘t for the food donated by Coles in the last year.”

Ms Carson said Covid-19 had forced SecondBite to be more agile as it relied on local communities creating hubs to collect and distribute food, especially in rural and regional Australia.

“We just try to get the food and move it as quickly as we can in the best state it can be in to the food agencies that have those programs.”

SecondBite was classed as an emergency service in the pandemic, and has upped its staff levels to help sort, pack and send food to needy families and other food charities that distribute food.

SecondBite founders Ian and Simone Carson have seen a huge uptick in demand for food charity through the Covid-19 pandemic.

Coles chief executive Steven Cain said Coles’ sustainability achievements in 2021 were part of its “Together to Zero/Better Together” strategy to drive generational sustainability and create a better Australia.

“Our long-term aspiration is for zero emissions, zero waste and zero hunger and we are grateful to our customers, team members, suppliers and community partners for working with us toward these goals,” Mr Cain said.

“Not only did this help feed vulnerable people facing hardship but importantly it also helped to reduce food waste,” he said reflecting on the food charity partnerships.

Thinus Keeve, chief sustainability, property and export officer at Coles, said he believed the donation of almost 36m meals through 2021 was a record for any corporate in Australia.

“Many people have told me we are a leader globally and the efficiencies we get, the meals we get to SecondBite, for us we are very proud of what we do, it is a very good relationship and has been going for ten years.”

Other retailers also donate, and it has become a key sustainability metric. Rival Woolworths has donated the equivalent of 24m meals in the last year and made $84m in community contributions.

As part of its sustainability push Coles has also dumped its highly popular “little shop” collectables toys promotion, reflecting the growing community reluctance to collect plastic toys.

“Becoming Australia’s most sustainable supermarket is our ambition and you can’t be giving away plastic toys, or recycled plastic toys, because it just puts more plastic into the environment.

“We put our money where our mouth is, in that we do what we say.”