Centre Joins OzHarvest to Feed the Needy
The Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre is working with local ‘food rescue service’ OzHarvest to ensure that any excess pre-packaged food from the venue does not go to waste.
Centre Executive Chef Detlef Haupt said the venue began donating perishables to OzHarvest at the start of the year, following an approach from the organisation to help feed Sydney’s needy.
OzHarvest is a not-for-profit organisation that collects food and delivers it free of charge to 118 charities that provide meals for men, women and children in need throughout Sydney.
“The Centre can only provide leftover food that has been wrapped and unopened – for example lunch boxes or packaged food from our Exhibition Cafes, so it depends what has been happening at the Centre and the nature of the products that are left over as to how much and when we can donate,” Detlef said.
As soon as a collection is ready, the Centre calls the special OzHarvest hotline and the food is picked up and distributed the same day.
“The Centre recently became the first venue in Australia to be awarded ISO 22000 certification, recognising its world-class food management systems, and this was a key factor in OzHarvest agreeing to work with us,” Detlef said.
“OzHarvest is very well organised and set up. They know how to work with big venues and they follow State food handling guidelines to provide an excellent service,” Detlef said.
“Being involved with programs like this is just one way the Centre helps the local community and it’s good to be able to give food to those charities that really need it.”
OzHarvest Logistics Coordinator Margot Donde said three refrigerated vans collected and distributed food donations to 118 charities throughout the city and western suburbs.
“More than 1.5 million meals have been delivered to charities since the organisation’s inception two and a half years ago. In our first month of operation we delivered 4000 meals, we now deliver more than 75,000 meals every month thanks to the generosity of donors such as the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre,” Ms Donde said.
“As a food rescue charity, whatever highly nutritious, healthy food we can obtain to distribute to local charities enables them to redirect their limited funds in other important ways,” Ms Donde said.
Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Higher departure tax and visa cost, e-arrival card: Japan unleashes the fiscal weapon against tourists
Cyclone in Sri Lanka had limited effect on tourism in contrary to media reports
Singapore to forbid entry to undesirable travelers with new no-boarding directive
Euromonitor International unveils world’s top 100 city destinations for 2025