Love Food Hate Waste NZ has been geared up for its annual Food Waste Action Week in March 2025, with a spotlight on more innovative meal planning.
HelloFresh, a new partner in LFHWNZ’s mission to reduce household food waste, recently commissioned a report on ‘Understanding Kiwi Household Food Waste.’
The findings showed that Kiwis were spending more on food than ever before, with nine percent of their weekly grocery spend going to waste.
While nearly 90 percent of New Zealanders claim to plan their meals to reduce food waste, food waste costs have continued to climb, eating into household budgets and negatively affecting environmental resources.
“We know that life can be unpredictable, unexpected events pop up, dealing with leftovers can feel like a challenge, or you're simply too tired to cook and opt for takeaways,” said Sophie Wolland, Love Food Hate Waste NZ’s Programme Manager.
“By getting Kiwis to stay flexible and follow our meal planning steps, we believe we can help everyone in New Zealand to reduce their food waste and save time and money.”
Launching four essential steps (or the 4 Cs) to effective meal planning: Check your week, Check what you’ve got, Choose your meals, and Create your list, LFHWNZ hoped to educate Kiwis and connect them to meal-planning tools that work for them.
Research showed that poor planning was a major driver of increased food waste, with 31 percent of New Zealanders who experienced more waste saying it was due to a lack of preparation.
Using meal kit services like HelloFresh, which provides pre-portioned ingredients and easy-to-follow recipes, households can reduce waste while enjoying fresh and delicious meals.
“By making meal planning a weekly habit, households can see real savings on their grocery bills and simultaneously cut down on wasted food. It’s a win for the wallet and the environment and an easy way for every Kiwi to play their part in reducing food waste.”
Helping Kiwis to remember these steps, LFHWNZ will release its Free Money Saver Meal Planner along with helpful meal planning apps, including meal kit services like HelloFresh, which make it easy to reduce food waste at home.
