April 24, 2026

Kaibosh launch urgent truck appeal for regional kai resilience

Wellington, Aotearoa/New Zealand – 24 April 2026 

Since 2008, Kaibosh has powered food rescue in the Greater Wellington Region, delivering surplus kai from food donors to charities supporting local people. Today, amid rising fuel costs, they’re calling for help to fund a vital new low-emissions truck. This truck will help the food rescue charity scale up their farm to food rescue work, accessing new sources of locally grown fresh produce that doesn’t make it to market. 

A fit-for-purpose vehicle will help Kaibosh expand their farm-to- food rescue work, increasing the amount of healthy kai available to feed families. Kaibosh is busy building partnerships with local growers, capturing surplus fresh produce at the source to help shield against future shocks like extreme weather events, global disruptions, or fuel crises. 

Kaibosh CE Susie Robertson says: “With one truck, we can turn potential food loss into real nourishment for local families struggling with the costs-of-living. The growers we’re meeting say they are ready!  This vehicle helps connect their surplus produce to people, while slashing food loss and emissions, as we keep locally grown kai close to home.” 

“Kaibosh has kept the food moving through every challenge for 18 years – this is an opportunity to improve regional resilience to better support people into the future, whatever it holds.” 

Donate at kaibosh.org.nz to be part of scaling up regional food resilience now. 

Information about Kaibosh: 

• Kaibosh has been serving communities since 2008, with their vision of Zero Food Poverty, Zero Food Waste. 

• To date, Kaibosh has redistributed 5,861,608 kgs – which equates to 15.7million meals worth of kai (based on 450g meal metric). Each month the operation currently distributes on average 75,000kgs of rescued food to communities in Greater Wellington.  

• Kaibosh has three hubs: in Pōneke, Pito-one and Paraparaumu, and is supported by 280 volunteers, collectively giving over 1200 hours on average each month. 

• The food rescue charity works with 100 food donors and connects good surplus food with 160+ community and charity partners – reaching an estimated 12,000 people per month.  

• Food donors include: supermarkets, fruit and vege markets, food manufacturers, logistics companies, farms and orchards. 

• Primary production is New Zealand’s largest contributor to food loss, accounting for 37% of the country’s total 1.22 million tonnes of annual food loss and waste. See University of Otago’s research report: Baseline Food Loss and Waste Report (link to Ministry for the Environment) 

• Kaibosh has secured a grant for a year to scale up second harvest project (farm to food rescue to community) – but this doesn’t include capex funding for a truck. Currently Kaibosh use a JAC EV Truck, on lease until Oct 2026. 

• Kaibosh is asking the public to support their annual appeal: Moving Kai in May, by making an immediate donation at kaibosh.org.nz, or by fundraising in their workplace, club or in the community. 

Media Contact: 
Susie Robertson CE, Kaibosh 
Phone: +6422 031 4262  Email: susie@kaibosh.org.nz