Love Food Hate Waste NZ is gearing up for its annual Food Waste Action Week in March 2025, with a spotlight on smarter meal planning to combat the country’s staggering $2.9 billion worth of household food waste—down from $3.2 billion in 2023, but still enough to feed 536,000 Kiwis for a year[i].

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 show that Kiwis are spending more on food than ever before, with 9% of their weekly grocery spend going to waste.

While nearly 90% of New Zealanders claim to plan their meals to reduce food waste—36% always and 55% sometimes—the cost of food waste continues to climb, eating into household budgets and negatively affecting environmental resources[ii].

“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 – 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, save time and money,” says Sophie Wolland, Love Food Hate Waste NZ’s Programme Manager.

Launching four essential steps (or The 4 Cs) to effective meal planning – Check your week, Check what you’ve got, Choose your meals, Create your list – LFHWNZ hopes to educate Kiwis and connect them to meal planning tools that work for them, whether it is an app, online meal kit provider like HelloFresh, or physical meal planners to keep you on track.

“With 55% of Kiwis agreeing that efficient planning helps them to reduce their food waste[iii], we hope our simple steps will help households plan for the unplanned, use up what they’ve already got, choose meals that work for everyone, and always shop with a list!” says Wolland.

Research shows that poor planning is a major driver of increased food waste, with 31% of New Zealanders who experienced more waste saying it’s due to a lack of preparation[iv].

By using meal kit services like HelloFresh, which provide pre-portioned ingredients and easy-to-follow recipes, households can cut down on waste while still enjoying fresh and delicious meals.

Showcasing that meal planning regularly can save money and food, LFHWNZ hopes that its four simple steps to better meal planning will become a weekly habit for Kiwis.

“We want these four steps to become second nature for Kiwis because we know regular meal planning can reduce mid week stress, save money and prevent food from heading to landfill,” says Sophie.

“By making meal planning a weekly habit, households can start to see real savings on their grocery bills and cut down on wasted food at the same time. It’s a win for the wallet, a win for the environment, and an easy way for every Kiwi to play their part in reducing food waste.”

FOUR SIMPLE STEPS TO BETTER MEAL PLANNING:

1. Check your week
   • Who’s home?
   • When will you be busy or tired?
2. Check what you’ve got
   • See what needs using up in your fridge, freezer & pantry.
3. Choose your meals
   • Plan easy, flexible meals.
   • Plan in your leftovers.
   • Consider downloading a meal planning app or using a meal kit service like HelloFresh, which makes meal planning effortless.
4. Create your list
   • And take it with you!

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.

Resources and tools will be released online via LFHWNZ and its partners during the month of March.

Notes:

[i] Kantar | Hello Fresh Survey: Understanding Kiwi Household Food Waste September 2024

[ii] Rabobank Kiwi Harvest New Zealand Food Waste Survey 2023

[iii] Rabobank Kiwi Harvest New Zealand Food Waste Survey 2023

[iv] Rabobank Kiwi Harvest New Zealand Food Waste Survey 2023

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