Australia

One team, three cities: Turning good food into good outcomes

Aspen’s volunteers in Australia and New Zealand volunteers rolled up their sleeves in collaboration with OzHarvest in Sydney and Melbourne and with Fair Food in Auckland in support of Mandela Day 2025.

Different cities but the same purpose: get perfectly good food to people who need it and keep it out of landfills — living the spirit of ubuntu (“I am because we are”) that sits so close to our South African roots.

OzHarvest exists to stop good food going to waste and get it to people in need. By rescuing surplus food from supermarkets, growers and hospitality, OzHarvest fights hunger, reduces landfill and emissions, and educates communities on the importance of valuing food and reducing waste.

This year, our Aspen Sydney & Melbourne teams turned rescued ingredients into nutritious, ready-to-eat meals and sorted fresh produce for rapid delivery to local charities. Our wonderful Kiwi colleagues hand-sorted fresh produce and pantry items, packed food boxes, and helped prepare simple meal components so nothing good went to waste.

With almost 40 enthusiastic volunteers across Sydney and Melbourne, enough food was prepared together with OzHarvest to nourish over 400 people in need throughout local communities.

Food relief is about more than calories. It’s about dignity, stability and connection. Our Australia and New Zealand teams helped local charities keep fridges full and hampers flowing for families experiencing hardship, while diverting edible food from landfill. This reduction in landfill helps to avoid methane emission and honours the water, energy and transport already invested in producing that food.

Our teams gave their time and skills to create immediate, practical help and multiplied the impact across three cities and three amazing teams!

Through our Mandela Day activities we were reminded to waste less and use more. Witnessing how quickly surplus food can be rescued and repurposed inspires better planning at work and at home: storing smarter, sharing more, composting, and making “use-it-all” a habit.

We also became more mindful that small actions deliver big outcomes. A few focused hours from a volunteer can result in a positive ripple effect for those who need it most. Multiply that impact across three teams, three cities and almost 50 volunteers, and the impact is truly powerful and one that our business units are incredibly proud to have achieved!

A huge thank you to our 26 Sydney, 10 Melbourne, and 10 Auckland volunteers, and to our wonderful partners at OzHarvest and Fair Food for helping us make a difference in honour of Mandela Day.

Read more about our activities in New Zealand here.