100,000 meals for Stop Hunger Now

Kraft Heinz meal packaging event helping those impacted by disaster.

Last Saturday (19th November) 200 Kraft Heinz staff from Hastings volunteered their time in partnership with Stop Hunger Now and The Salvation Army to help fight hunger. 

Working in ten teams, the volunteers produced 100,000 dehydrated meals in just 2 hours 15 minutes a record breaking time for the Asia Pacific region for this event.

The dehydrated meals which include rice grain, soya flakes, dehydrated vegetables and micro nutrients will be distributed to Kiwis in need through The Salvation Army’s network of 60 foodbanks around the country and will provide a critical food item for The Salvation Army’s emergency relief and recovery work currently in operation in Kaikoura and Marlborough. The meals will also be stored to ensure preparedness for any future emergency events here and in the Pacific.

Stop Hunger Now organises events where people can volunteer and pack dehydrated meals for those who are in need all over the world.  Over the last year Kraft Heinz has been proud to work with Stop Hunger Now, holding their first ever meal packaging event in Washington before this recent New Zealand event. Stop Hunger Now and Kraft Heinz’s partnership has helped improve the nutrition of more than five million children in 30 developing countries.

The Hastings event is another great extension of the long standing relationship between Wattie’s and The Salvation Army over the past 23 years which has involved major public-facing can fundraising campaigns supported with matched donations from Wattie’s run each November to restock foodbank shelves in the run up to Christmas.

Thanks to the amazing 200+ team from Kraft Heinz led by Jacob Matson, Tiki Keh from Stop Hunger Now for initiating the event and The Salvation Army for the record-breaking effort on the day which will deliver benefits to those in need over the months and years ahead.  

To see the energy, enthusiasm and scale of the pack event, check out this 2 minute video.