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Waste Not Kitchen Soups Taste Good

It’s one soup for you and one for your community - and the kids absolutely love it!

Waste Not Kitchen is stiring up meals for those in need and reducing food waste as they go. Waste Not Kitchen is a not-for-profit charity created by Janene Draper (co-founder of Farro) and her sister Leysa Ross. The charity re-purposes good surplus food wastage into meals that nourish those in need.

The Waste Not Kitchen charity has created a range of nutritious soups, providing a practical solution to reducing food waste whilst nourishing those in need. The soups are filled with NZ-raised meat and fresh vegetables that have been donated by New Zealand food retailers Farro and Turners & Growers. For every soup bought, the registered charity will donate one to families in need at Auckland Women’s Refuge or to growing Kiwi kids participating in the I Have A Dream Programme charity. It’s one soup for you and one for your community!

Sisters Janene and Leysa, were inspired to provide nutritious ready-to-heat meals for people in need, made from good food that would otherwise not be used.

“We want to eliminate food waste, feed those in need in our community and have a positive impact on our planet,” says Waste Not Kitchen co-creator and General Manager, Leysa Ross. “These are tasty soups for people to enjoy but with the added benefit of feeding those in need and helping reducing food waste in New Zealand.”

Every year Kiwis send 123,000 tonnes of food to landfill that could have been eaten. In the USA, 40% of food produced never gets eaten. Globally, 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted every year. If this amount is reduced by just a quarter, there would be enough food to feed everybody on the planet.

Waste Not Kitchen came about to address the problem of surplus retail meat going to landfill.

“If we have gone to the effort to produce meat, let’s ensure it is all used and used wisely. Waste Not Kitchen uses surplus meat and vegetables, that would otherwise be thrown out, to make easy-to-heat hearty meals,” says co-creator Janene Draper.

There are four flavours of soups: Roast Chicken, Hearty Beef & Bean, Moroccan Lamb and Asian Pork Noodle. Soups retail at $9.99 for a 620ml pottle, serving two people in your household as well as another two people in our community. The soup containers are made from fully recyclable materials.

Waste Not Kitchen soups are being thoroughly enjoyed by Dreamers involved in our after-school programmes across Tikipunga and Otangarei.

“The kids absolutely love it. I have brought the soups with me every week and some kids are asking for it as soon as we arrive. One boy said last week “I could eat this all day!” says Rose Welsh, Year 4 Navigator.

I Have a Dream is immensely grateful to our #DreamPartners who are able to provide us support in the way of resources and food for our various programmes.

‘’We are delighted to work with Waste Not Kitchen. Ensuring our I Have A Dream children are well nourished is essential – good meals help them be more engaged and energised to learn better on their educational pathway,’’ says Scott Gilmour, I Have A Dream Chairperson.