KiwiHarvest marks one year of emissions-free food rescue with JAC electric truck

Food-rescue charity KiwiHarvest and JAC Trucks are marking a year of emissions-free deliveries that has helped redirect nearly half a million meals to New Zealanders in need.

KiwiHarvest rescues about 14 tonnes of surplus food every working day before it reaches landfill, supplying more than 235 charities including food banks, marae, Women’s Refuges, the Salvation Army and community groups across the country.

Over the past 12 months, its Auckland team has been operating a fully electric JAC truck to collect and distribute rescued food around the city. The vehicle has travelled 11,500 kilometres without producing a single tailpipe emission.

JAC NZ general manager Andrew Craw says the partnership has delivered significant social and environmental gains.

“Since our JAC EV truck joined the KiwiHarvest fleet a year ago it has helped rescue 250 tonnes of good food – the equivalent to 480,000 meals,” Craw says.

“This food has a retail value of $1.7 million that would otherwise have gone to waste. The other great benefit of our partnership is that we have also prevented 750 tonnes of CO2 emissions that would have been released if this food had gone to landfill.”

KiwiHarvest says the EV has also saved an additional 7.3 tonnes of CO2e compared with using a diesel equivalent for the same work.

The charity’s longest-serving food rescue driver, Seti Tuala, was assigned the electric truck and reckons she “has the best truck in the fleet”.

KiwiHarvest chief executive Angela Calver says the electric vehicle has made a measurable difference to the organisation’s ability to expand its reach.

“We are deeply grateful to JAC for generously loaning us their electric truck over the past year,” Calver says.

“This vehicle was more than just transportation, it was a catalyst for impact. The truck was vital to the growth we achieved this year, enabling us to serve more in our community sustainably and expand our mission in ways that would not have been possible otherwise.”

Craw says the sustainability goals of both organisations align closely.

“We’re a trucking company committed to providing options to improve sustainability and reduce emissions, and KiwiHarvest is on the ground every day doing the same — preventing waste, reducing carbon emissions and supporting Kiwis in need. It just goes hand-in-hand,” he says.