Food rescue at events can be challenging, particularly when multiple vendors are involved and food safety requirements need to be considered. While food trucks often have limited surplus as they make to order, Crooked River Estate‘s catering team were determined to reduce waste and ensure good food didn’t end up in the bin.

Crooked River Estate Sustainability & Operations Manager Joel reached out to us off the back of a recent food rescue campaign EDM, keen to donate any leftover edible food from their annual Winter Wine Festival held on the June long weekend this year in Gerringong. We connected them to their nearest food relief partner, Assist Shellharbour. The result? Several crates of packaged meals and surplus produce from the Winter Wine Festival were donated for their community.

The meals were frozen and packed into containers by Crooked River’s kitchen team, and used for Assist Shellharbour’s Monday evening community meal. Surplus apples from the kitchen were transformed into a delicious apple crumble by Assist’s kitchen volunteers.

The partnership has already grown beyond the festival itself. Inspired by the success of the donation, Crooked River Estate’s kitchen team has committed to setting aside suitable surplus catering food from weddings and other events each week for Assist Shellharbour to collect.

Assist Shellharbour’s Community Engagement Manager Naomi said the connection has been a fantastic outcome for them.

“It was such a great connection! We even got to thank the owners, which is really fabulous, and it looks like we are going to have a weekly pick-up from them every Monday, which is perfect for our meal on Monday evening.”

This is exactly the kind of lasting impact we love to see from our Illawarra Food Rescue & Relief project; turning a one-off donation into an ongoing partnership that reduces food waste while helping feed local people experiencing hardship.

If you’re a business interested in donating your leftover edible food, find out more about food donation.