UFVRA - Australia is a small national food rescue volunteer organization. We work with a range of food suppliers partners to rescue surplus fresh food from across the network, and redistribute it to our communities around Australia. These Volunteers run food programs to support people in need in their communities.

With latest figures revealing that more than 5 million people in Australia experience food insecurity at least once in the course of a year, UFVRA - Australia exists to make sure that good food is getting to people who need it most, rather than to landfill.

We collect and distribute wasted food to over 1,000 community food programs across Australia, and supplies all food completely free of charge. The volunteers we work with make a real difference to people’s lives, providing more than just a meal - they provide support, hope and friendship to those doing it tough.

To date we have rescued and distributed the equivalent of over 10,000 meals.

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OUR STORY

UFVRA - Australia began in 20018  with two friend - Emmanuel and Peter. Gathering a committed volunteers,group of friends, they would visit farms, food banks,  market stalls in Brisbane at the end of a day, collect surplus food, and drop it to individuals that is in need of food.

In 2018 and 2020, UFVRA - Australia, Food bank Qld,and SecondBite formed a national partnership, which led to a rapid expansion of our organizations operational scale and reach.

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our OPERATIONS

UFVRA - Australia now has Food distribution center locations in Brisbane, Sydney, and Perth. We partner with organizations in Tasmania. We direct deliver in areas where it is efficient to do so. We run a Community Connect™ model that facilitates direct connections between our partners and supermarkets in other areas and regions.

We are helped by the generous support of more than 74 volunteers, and over 20  Board members around Australia.

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Donate food to ufvra - Australia

UFVRA is more than happy to receive donations of food, provided the products meet our needs and specifications. If you have smaller, ad hoc donations, we recommend contacting a local charity to donate the stock. For larger bulk donations, please read the following, and contact us via the form below.

To support businesses to donate, legislation provides indemnity for companies that donate safe food to charitable organizations such as UFVRA.

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OUR SPECIFICATIONS FOR FOOD DONATIONS

At UFVRA, we’re serious about food safety, and so we require the following conditions to be met for us to receive food donations:

• Care has been taken when handling, storing and packing food

• High Risk Food is stored in clean, covered food-grade containers

• High risk foods such as: meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products and small goods, or foods which contain these ingredients, such as sandwiches, quiches and prepared salads, are kept below 5°C or above 60°C and out of the Temperature Danger Zone

• The food is to be collected by UFVRA in the shortest possible time

• High-risk food left in the Temperature Danger Zone for more than 4 hours has been discarded

• Everyone involved in handling donated food has maintained the highest standard of personal hygiene and cleanliness

• The food container is labelled with the appropriate information required: product name, date prepared, use by date and where possible – ingredients (esp. allergens)

• The food will still be in an edible state in 48 hours time from collection

• ‘Use By’ dates must have at least 2 days life remaining

• ‘Best Before’ dates must have at least 2 days life remaining for refrigerated items

• ‘Best Before’ dates may be up to 3 months past for dry goods and providing the food is still fit for consumption

What CANNOT BE DONATED

• Food past its ‘Use By’ date

• Refrigerated food past its ‘Best Before’ date

• Dry goods that are 3 months past the ‘Best Before’ date

• Food that is damaged or perished to an extent that affects its reasonable use

• Leaking or unsealed products

• Cracked or broken eggs (remove broken from a carton before donating eggs)

• Food with visible mould or contamination

• Refrigerated items not stored and maintained at less than 5°C

• Frozen items not stored and maintained at less than minus 15°C

• Food that has been left in a bain-marie

• Foods that have been served to the public on a buffet and/or unwrapped and exposed

• Please give some more information about the products.

 

What is the use by and/or best before date of the products? Please specify whether use by or best before. *

What is the weight (KG) and/or volume (pallets) of stock to be donated? *

Would you be able to arrange transport to a UFVRA - Australia distribution centre? *

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What day and time would be suitable for collection/delivery?

 

Would it be an ongoing donation or a one-off? *

Ongoing

One-off

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