New Zealand’s much-loved premium chilled soup brand Naked Locals is honouring the work of three Kiwi charities this winter with the launch of a delicious new Local Heroes soup range, with 20 cents from each soup purchased to be donated to each charity.
Naked Locals is collaborating with Everybody Eats, Satisfy Food Rescue, and Gizzy Kai Rescue to support each charity’s vital work in reducing food waste and offering nutritious meals to their fellow Kiwis. Three new soups have been developed and matched to each charity, with proceeds from every pack sold adding to the donation made to their respective causes. The venture will see Naked Locals donating up to $20,000 to each organisation, ultimately contributing a potential $60,000 towards the charities.
Proceeds from the new Naked Locals Lentil, Potato and Caramelised Onion Soup will be donated to Kaiapoi-based Satisfy Food Rescue, who work with local food retailers and other organisations to redirect surplus perishable food to those who need it most in the community.
Donations from sales of the hearty Farmer’s Market Vege and Quinoa Soup will go to Everybody Eats, a pay-as-you-feel dining concept based in Auckland, Tauranga, and Wellington that uses perfectly good surplus food to serve chef-prepared meals and help combat food waste, food poverty, and social isolation.
Meanwhile, proceeds from the sale of Naked Locals Kumara and Coconut Soup will be donated to Gizzy Kai Rescue, a Gisborne-based not-for-profit organisation that rescues food that would otherwise be destined for landfill or animal feed, reducing food waste and redirecting the healthy edible food to those in need throughout the community.
Life Health Foods International Marketing Manager Mark Roper says the Naked Locals team are big fans of the meaningful work that each of these charities do and are keen to support their missions in tackling food waste and providing for Kiwis in need.
“We’ve seen the good work being done by these groups in their communities, so we’re really excited to be able to support these local heroes via this new soup range,” he says.
“Like the rest of the Naked Locals range, our Local Heroes soups are made with wholesome, New Zealand-grown vegetables, meaning our customers can buy and enjoy something really tasty that’s good for them – and good for the community too.”
Everybody Eats founder Nick Loosley is welcoming the collaboration with Naked Locals, saying the proceeds from the campaign will go a long way in helping them achieve their goals.
“Food waste and food poverty are really significant issues facing the country, and donations help us to bridge the gap between koha and our day-to-day running costs,” he says. “Support from fellow Kiwis is so important to ensure we can continue to provide our communities with a delicious meal and important social connections.”
Satisfy Food Rescue manager Stef Van Meer agrees, saying the Naked Local Heroes initiative will be a very welcome support for their own food waste mission.
“We’ve worked really hard to redirect the abundance of food in our community to where it’s needed most and we’re proud to say we’ve rescued more than 465 tonnes of food from landfill to date,” she says. “We’ve distributed the equivalent of more than 1.3m meals so far, and we know the funds from the Local Heroes campaign will help us do even more.”
Naked Locals is now calling on shoppers to choose their soup or charity of choice to help make a difference. The Local Heroes soups (RRP $5.99) launches in supermarkets nationwide from April 19. Like the rest of the Naked Locals range, the soups are comforting, nourishing meals, made locally without preservatives or artificial colours or flavours.
You can find out more about the new range on the Naked Locals website or you can follow the charity collaboration journey on social media via the #NakedLocals and #LocalHeroes hashtags.
