Foodie Volunteer Army Offers Free Support To New Zealand’s Vital Food Industry

New Zealand is going through an unprecedented crisis due to COVID-19, and during this time New Zealand’s food industries are clear essential services that must maintain continuity of supply. To support our producers and manufacturers, the New Zealand Institute of Food Science & Technology (NZIFST) has setup an group on LinkedIn offering a forum for New Zealand food businesses to ask technical questions, look for technical support, and generally gather as a community.

Foodie Volunteer Army founder Jono Cox says “We know this is a challenging time across our industries, and want our colleagues, especially in smaller businesses, to know that there is help out there for them. We see the potential needs as being in supply chain, process changes to ensure staff and product safety, personnel absence, or any acute technical issue due to current events.”

The purpose of the Foodie Volunteer Army is to give an open forum where people can share their knowledge and connections. For more sensitive issues businesses will be able to contact the group Admin (fva@nzifst.org.nz) to be connected more directly to expertise, either voluntary or contract resource as may be required. There will also be the ability for people to advertise their availability for contract work, and share any information that people feel will be valuable to other members of the group.

To date the group has attracted more than 160 members. Jono Cox is keen to gather as many food industry peers to the group as possible “Whether you’re a producer, manufacturer, or a consultant; and whether you’re in a large organisation or a sole-trader, we welcome you to join the conversation to support New Zealand’s food supply chain”.

He also added “As we work through these challenging weeks as an industry, naturally the conversation will turn toward scenario planning for easing of the alert levels and restrictions. Readiness to move between alert levels will be crucial, and we’re here to help.”

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