Kantar New Zealand Food Waste Survey, April 2022

Are Kiwis becoming more waste conscious?

The new Rabobank-KiwiHarvest Food Waste Research highlights:

• New Zealanders are wasting more of their food than in 2021 with the estimated percentage of household food waste rising to 13.4 per cent from 8.6 per cent previously.
• With food waste increasing, the estimated value of food waste per New Zealand household has ballooned to a whopping $1520 per household per year. Nationally, this equates to an eye-watering $3.1 billion of wasted food.
• Despite the jump in waste, Kiwis attitudes towards food waste remain largely similar to a year ago.
• Kiwis who are ‘always’ exhibiting positive food waste behaviours like planning meals and freezing leftovers are wasting vastly less food than those who ‘never’ do – saving themselves hundreds of dollars each year.

Worldwide, around 40% of all food produced doesn’t make it to people’s plates. Food waste also contributes to green-house gas emissions, and it squanders the water, land and energy used to grow it.

Rabobank is on a mission to do something about food waste. Naturally, we have a deep interest in knowing the food produced by the New Zealand businesses we work with goes where it really belongs, on people‘s plates.

We’re getting involved in projects and initiatives to make a positive difference. We know our Rabobank Online Savers care about this issue, so we’ll keep you updated with news and ideas. Together we will tackle the problem of food waste.