312,000 serves of Weet-Bix will make it onto the breakfast tables of Australians struggling to survive this winter.
Foodbank is currently distributing the Weet-Bix to relief charities around Australia, after brokering a chain of collaboration that stretches all the way back to the wheat paddock.
The Weet-Bix will be given to people in need in prepared meals, food hampers and emergency packs to provide a nutritious and sustaining start to the day.
This is the food chain Foodbank created:
· The donated cereal has been manufactured for Foodbank by Sanitarium Health & Wellbeing, made from grain donated by Australian farmers.
· The grain came from a store collected by GrainCorp and other grain handlers in a program that encourages growers to do their bit to help reduce hunger in Australia.
· The donated grain is augmented by the handlers themselves, as well as millers such as Weston Milling and Manildra. The aim is to create an ongoing supply of grain and flour, which Foodbank can use to manufacture a variety of key staples such as bread, pasta and breakfast cereal.
· Sanitarium donated the additional ingredients, manufacturing time and labour to produce the Weet-Bix at its Berkeley Vale factory.
· ANZPAC donated the Weet-Bix packaging.
· Visy donated the cardboard cartons for shipping.
· Linfox delivered the donated Weet-Bix to the Foodbank warehouses.
”Sanitarium has been partnering with Foodbank since 2010,” said Todd Saunders, general manager – Sanitarium Australia. “Foodbank’s collaborative model makes it easy for us to use our skills and resources to contribute in a meaningful way, and by partnering with other suppliers our combined efforts can make a greater difference.”
“The Weet-Bix story is an example of the level of cooperation and support provided by Australia’s food industry to help us to meet the daily needs of food relief charities. Involvement of everyone in the supply chain, from the primary producer to the manufacturer, means the challenge is shared and we are able to create a sustainable solution to providing essential key staple foods,” Greg Warren, Foodbank general manager added.
Last year, Foodbank distributed enough food for 32 million meals but this is coming less from traditional rescue channels. Foodbank’s need to proactively source food through collaborative arrangements with every segment of the food industry is growing. To date, 750 tonnes of grain have been collected. Other programs are targeting fruit and vegetables, milk, eggs, rice and meat.
