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Food rescue organisation KiwiHarvest is used to collecting goodies from Woolworths supermarkets, but not usually by seizing products at speed from the aisles.
KiwiHarvest is Woolworths’ biggest food rescue partner, collecting from more than 50 stores including across south and east Auckland.
Woolworths offered a “trolley dash” prize which raised more than $5000 at KiwiHarvest’s Goodness Gala.
Prize draw winner Diego Hurtado had 60 seconds to run the aisles of Woolworths Waiata Shores in Takanini, grabbing all he could (excluding meat or alcohol and maximum two of anything).
“It goes way faster than we thought but watching my team do it for me was pretty good,” says Diego.
His sister-in-law Connie Cross and her husband Ben actually did the dashing for Diego as he’s nursing an injury.
“It went a lot faster than I thought it was going to go. Our plan went out the window as soon as they said ‘go’. Now, if I do it again, I know what not to do!” says Connie.
Diego is the sales manager for secure waste company Hi Tech Disposals, which works with Auckland Airport getting batteries taken from luggage to KiwiHarvest for distribution to the community.
Since August last year about 95,000 batteries have been donated to KiwiHarvest.
“There’s a big effort in New Zealand to divert stuff from landfills so stopping batteries going to landfill when they’re perfectly fine and can be used for something, I think that’s a big step for a more sustainable way.”
For Woolworths, supporting food rescue groups such as KiwiHarvest is a core part of its sustainability work.
“We want to get safe, surplus edible food to people instead of sending it to landfill and we’re succeeding in doing that in spectacular fashion, with the help of our amazing food rescue partners including KiwiHarvest,” says Catherine Langabeer, Woolworths NZ head of sustainability.
In its 2025 financial year, Woolworths NZ donated more than 4000 tonnes of food across the country, equivalent to more than eight million meals worth over $20 million.
Woolworths also invested more than $1m (including customer donations) in its food rescue partners across Aotearoa, including KiwiHarvest.
“We’re incredibly grateful for the significant support we get from Woolworths, including the trolley dash prize,” says Angela Calver, KiwiHarvest chief executive.
“This is a real partnership. We get safe, surplus food from Woolworths supermarkets and distribute that food to our hundreds of community partners, getting it into the hands of the people who need it most.”
