Who We Are

Founded by Ronni Kahn AO in 2004 after noticing the huge volume of food going to waste, OzHarvest has quickly grown to become Australia’s leading food rescue organisation.

The OzHarvest Story

OzHarvest was founded in 2004 by Ronni Kahn AO, after noticing the huge volume of food going to waste from her events business. Ronni did not set out to start a charity, rather just fix an obvious problem with a simple solution. Starting with one van in Sydney, she began rescuing food and delivering it to local charities.

As OzHarvest grew, Ronni and a team of pro-bono lawyers lobbied state governments to amend legislation allowing potential food donors to give their surplus food to charities without fear of liability. The Civil Liabilities Amendment Act was passed in NSW in 2005 and other states followed.

OzHarvest is now Australia’s leading food rescue organisation with a driving purpose to ‘Nourish our Country’. Our mission is to stop food waste, feed people in need and protect our planet by championing the value of food and driving change at all levels of society. The impact of our work is strongly aligned to achieving five United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

We’re best known for our iconic yellow food rescue vans which save over 250 tonnes of good food every week from over 2,600 food donors and deliver it direct to over 1,500 charities that feed people in need. We also create positive change through three national education programs, and with our advocacy work raising awareness about food security and doing whatever we can to halve Australia’s food waste by 2030.

Innovation is part of our DNA and we’re always looking to add value to what we do and find new ways to tackle food waste and feed hungry people. We’re pioneering social impact projects from free supermarkets and a restaurant that feeds people in need and creating revenue generating products via OzHarvest Ventures.

Everyone at OzHarvest is driven by purpose and making an impact every day. It’s a mammoth team effort, made up of 350 devoted staff, a network of like-minded partners and over 3,000 passionate volunteers who live and breathe our message.

Ronni Kahn AO

Ronni Kahn AO is a South-African born Australian social entrepreneur who founded the food rescue charity OzHarvest. She is a passionate advocate and activist, renowned for disrupting the food waste landscape in Australia.

As the owner of a successful event company, Ronni saw huge volumes of food going to waste every day and soon realised she was part of the problem. Knowing that millions of people were going hungry, she knew this was something that had to be fixed. Ronni’s simple solution of taking her own surplus food to local charities quickly took off and in 2004, OzHarvest was born.

Today, OzHarvest is Australia’s leading food rescue organisation. A dedicated team of nearly 300 staff and more than 3000 volunteers share Ronni’s devotion for the cause. The charity has grown under Ronni’s stewardship from humble beginnings in Sydney to delivering food and educational programs across Australia and the charity’s model has been shared globally; now established in New Zealand, South Africa, Japan, Vietnam and the United Kingdom. Ronni was CEO of OzHarvest for 20 years and handed over the reins to James Goth in 2024.

Ronni’s quest to tackle Australia’s food waste problem makes her a lead spokesperson on the issue, appearing regularly in national media, on expert panels and in an advisory capacity to the government. She is a keynote speaker all over the world, inspiring people to find their own purpose.

Always on the lookout for new ways to innovate, Ronni started the world’s first free supermarket – the OzHarvest Market – based on a ‘take what you need give if you can’ philosophy and founded ForPurposeCo – a sustainable, social focused business to create revenue for OzHarvest.

Ronni has received various accolades recognising her achievements, most notably her appointment as Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), Boss Magazine Top 21 True Leaders, Gourmet Traveller’s Outstanding Contribution to Hospitality, Griffith University’s Doctor of the University (honoris causa) and Australian Local Hero of the Year.

Ronni’s journey in the fight against food waste became the feature of an independent film Food Fighter. Her memoir A Re-Purposed Life published by Murdoch Books Australia is available from late September 2020.

Visit Ronni's website

Goal 2

Through food rescue operations and food relief services we’re ensuring fresh and nutritious food is accessible to all. We’re continuously evolving our model and increasing efficiencies in food rescue to get more food, to feed more people. Innovation plays a key part in addressing the ongoing need in Australia and we’re always looking for new solutions. Working with our peers in the food relief sector, we’re a collective voice for those experiencing food insecurity in Australia and are committed to bringing about change to address this national issue.

Goal 4

Our education programs aim to create positive change across different community groups by improving life skills, increasing healthy eating and raising awareness about food waste and sustainable living. FEAST is a curriculum-aligned program for schools which inspires future change-makers and behavioural change towards reducing food waste. NEST improves food security and creates community connections for vulnerable adults and Nourish creates new life skills and pathways for a better future for young people facing barriers to education. Our impact in these programs not only makes a difference in the lives of individuals, but also engages partners to support collective action on this goal.

Goal 12

We use our voice to champion the value of food and inspire change at all levels of society. Our focus is on achieving goal 12.3: to halve food waste per capita by 2030 and empowering businesses and consumers to do the same. We’re working closely with partners and food donors to reduce waste to landfill and ensure targets are set and met. We’re investing in consumer research and campaigns to tackle food waste at home, and our Use It Up Tape™ is proven to reduce household food waste by 40% - embedding the behaviour nationally is our goal. Through innovation with OzHarvest Ventures, we’re looking at new products and business solutions that create social and environmental impact.

Goal 13

SDG 13 is about the core of the Paris agreement - how to prepare for the impact of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Protecting our planet is a key part of our mission and our advocacy work is central to raising awareness and connecting the dots between food waste and climate change. Through our partnerships, programs, communications and campaigns we educate people on environmental impact of methane caused by wasted food and inspire action on reducing waste. Food rescue prevents the embedded carbon emissions from food production from being wasted and avoids the release of methane from food rotting in landfill. For every kilo of food rescued, 1kg of CO2 equivalent is saved from being released into the atmosphere.

Goal 17

Solving complex problems like food waste and food security are impossible without partnerships. We’re passionate about working with like-minded partners that share our vision for a better world, our network includes food donors, corporate partners, all levels of government, charities, schools, educational institutions, other not for profit organisations and our peers in the food relief sector. Through all our partnerships we drive a connection to our cause and build strategies for reducing food waste, feeding hungry people, creating positive change and protecting our planet.

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