
NZ FOOD WASTE CHAMPIONS 12.3

Champions of 12.3

Champions of 12.3
New Zealand’s Champions of 12.3 are a coalition of representatives from across the food supply chain, championing Aotearoa's progress towards halving food waste by 2030. They consist of executives from large retailers, small start-ups, food rescue organisations, membership organisations and more.
New Zealand’s Champions of 12.3 have made the
following commitment:
Championing the global Sustainable Development Goal Target 12.3: to halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses by 2030; by:
SHOWCASING successful examples of food waste reduction, particularly within the individual organisations of the NZ Champions of 12.3;
ADVOCATING to government for enabling conditions for food
waste reduction, particularly to achieve SDG 12.3;
ACTION accelerating and aggregating action around food
waste reduction, particularly through a business Kai Commitment.
*Note: Champions currently serve in an individual capacity but have endorsement from their organisation.

ASSOC PROFESSOR MIRANDA MIROSA
Trustee - Chair
Otago
University
Miranda provides behavioural science research that aims to understand and transform the sustainability of our national and global food system. She is the Director of the University’s Food Waste Technical and Social Innovations Research Group. Her work focuses on quantifying waste and enhancing understanding of the reasons for wasteful practices in order to make recommendations on waste minimisation initiatives. She provides academic consultancy services on food waste to government and businesses.
Sarah is Sector Project Manager at WasteMINZ and coordinates the Organic Materials, Behaviour Change, Product Stewardship and Recycling & Resource Recovery Sector Groups. She oversees the Love Food Hate Waste programme, which is a programme that provides tips and tools to help New Zealanders reduce their food waste.
Sarah has had a passion for waste minimisation personally and professionally for many years. She first learnt about the Love Food Hate Waste program while on a Winston Churchill Fellowship in the UK researching how organisations there engage the public in waste minimisation Several years later she is now leading the NZ program to ensure individuals have the tools and capabilities to reduce their individual impact on waste in Aotearoa.
Deborah Manning is a lawyer, social entrepreneur and the Founder of KiwiHarvest and the New Zealand Food Network. Deborah brought the KiwiHarvest food rescue concept to life in Dunedin in 2012 and then expanded into Auckland, North Shore, Hawke’s Bay and Queenstown. KiwiHarvest’s mission is simple – to source excess nutritious food and distribute it to organisations across the country that feed those in need, and to protect the environment by stopping surplus food from being discarded. The New Zealand Food Network was founded to support food rescues, food banks and charities across Aotearoa with healthy food through the aggregation and sharing of bulk surplus and donated food.
Andrew was, recently awarded the 2019 SBN Sustainability Superstar Award. He founded EcoStock over 13years ago, which is New Zealand's largest commercial food recovery and reuse business, with a national network supporting over 140 businesses. In 2019 Ecostock joined forces with Pioneer Energy to create the Ecogas Limited Partnership. Ecogas will support Auckland Councils 2021 roll-out of household foodwaste collection, providing the processing capability for the next 20 years, which will include the production of biofuels and bio-fertilisers. Andrew has represented NZ at the APEC Food Loss and Waste Conference in Tokyo.
Nicky considers herself extremely fortunate to be able to work in two synergistic part time roles –
representing the New Zealand Food Innovation Network in the region from Tairāwhiti down the east
coast to Wellington, plus running Hawke’s Bay’s food and beverage programme. For Nicky, with a PhD
in Food Science and a background in food product development and innovation strategy, the chance to
work alongside innovative businesses helping them bring new products to market is a dream come true.
Marrying that with a regional programme encouraging collaborations between businesses to address
challenges and find opportunities through improved sustainability provides unique insights into food
waste reduction in regional Aotearoa.
Brett has an extensive 30-year career in FMCG and along with his time in New Zealand, he has also worked in Sydney, Singapore, New York and the UK, where he has developed a deep understanding of consumers, their needs and how to deliver on those needs.
Together with a strong commercial and strategic focus, Brett has end-to-end experience across the supply chain, including manufacturing and operations. He is also recognised for the emphasis he places on people – a culture of mentoring, development, teamwork and open communication is important to him. Brett’s passion for waste reduction started with a plastics challenge, collecting all waste for one week into a small jar. As Fonterra are an initial signatory of Kai Commitment, Brett finds it important to embed food waste reduction across his work and looks forward to progressing SDG 12.3.
Ailsa is the Sustainability and Extension Manager at Horticulture New Zealand. Horticulture NZ advocates for New Zealand growers in an ever-changing environment. It works in partnership with horticulture’s product groups and district associations to create an enduring environment where growers thrive. Ailsa has an environmental science background. As a Champion of 12.3, her focus is to test and promote credible solutions to sustainability challenges facing growers and the industry, through policy and improved practice.

CATHERINE
LANGABEER
Countdown
Catherine is the Head of Sustainability at Countdown New Zealand and has been helping businesses deepen and act on their purpose for more than 14 years. Her experience ranges from leading operations for a climate change charity in the UK to specialising in corporate sustainability in New Zealand, leading programmes related to clean tech, climate change, sustainable procurement, financial wellbeing, human rights/responsible sourcing and community partnerships.
Working on resource recovery and waste reduction goals at Countdown, Catherine is gaining rich insights into the barriers and opportunities to reduce food waste within the retail setting and seeks to accelerate shifts in our food system that will benefit communities, biodiversity and the climate.
Angela is the CEO of Eat New Zealand, a collective of New Zealand's chefs, producers, media, tourism and event operators, who have all been inspired to create a national platform to promote and champion our best food, drink, and culinary tourism opportunities. Angela is committed to connecting people to our land through our food, and is part of the leadership group tasked with considering a National Food Strategy for New Zealand. She is also a food grower and co-owns The Food Farm, a small farm in North Canterbury, committed to building resilient food communities and teaching others how to grow food.
Louise is the founder and CEO of Circularity, a circular design and innovation BCorp and carbon positive consultancy - dedicated to radically redesigning business as usual by designing out waste and regenerating living systems to ensure people and planet can thrive within a changing climate. As the granddaughter of tomato growers, appreciation for good food and nature is in her blood, marrying her passion for designing a more equitable and regenerative food system in Aotearoa she is excited to bring her connections to the Champions 12.3 table to scale our impact in reducing food loss and waste.
Having recently left his longstanding post at Fonterra (10 years), Paul is leading the charge at NZ Functional Foods, establishing and commercialising a carbon-neutral oat-milk factory in Southland.
Born and raised on a dairy farm in the Hauraki Plains (Ngatea),
Paul Harvey remains deeply passionate about maximising value
for food and beverage industries of New Zealand, with a key
focus on looking at how value can be created through
disruptive thinking that will meet the needs of the consumer,
today and tomorrow. He sees the importance of reducing waste, both for businesses and the sustainability of Aotearoa’s vibrant food system.
As Head of Sustainability with Foodstuffs, Mike brings 15 years of experience in projects such as developing and implementing Foodstuffs strategic approach in the areas of Energy, Carbon, Waste, Packaging, Procurement and Electric Vehicles. Mike has a particular focus on life cycle analysis, waste minimisation, recycling, packaging and electric vehicles.
Foodstuffs recognises that it has an import role to play in improving the overall efficiency of the food supply system in NZ, particularly as an initial signatory of Kai Commitment. Mike is personally driven to innovate on new approaches and concepts to deliver sustainability success and is dedicated to raising the profile of food waste reduction in Aotearoa New Zealand.

MATT HARCOMBE
Silver Fern Farms
Matt is the Sustainability Manager at Silver Fern Farms. He brings over 25 years of work experience across a variety of roles in the primary sector and has a very strategic understanding of food production systems from farm to plate and all the policy influences and wonderful people in between.
There are so many passionate people and projects underway across Aotearoa, all with a love of food and a deep commitment to a sustainable future. There is a real opportunity through the Food waste champions network and the Kai commitment to support this significant momentum towards a zero food waste goal, bringing scale, active collaboration and innovation to each of these projects, supporting those who are leading them and building an enduring systems based approach to valuing our collective love of food.
See what our Champions have achieved to date
Alumni
Champions of 12.3

Jenny
Marshall
Previously WasteMINZ

Anna Yallop
Bioresource Processing Alliance (BPA)

Susan Goodfellow
Leftfield Innovation
