OzHarvest, Australia’s leading food rescue organization, is using innovative food redistribution models, social entrepreneurship, advocacy, and education to tackle food waste and deliver food to those in need.
Ronni Kahn founded OzHarvest in 2004, inspired to take action to prevent massive volumes of food from ending up in the landfill. Kahn was working in the event industry at the time and noticed that she was regularly tossing leftovers. “It was actually unconscionable,” she tells Food Tank.
This realization drove her to deliver the surplus to nearby charities. Seeing social and environmental benefits of this work motivated her to continue. “It became so fulfilling and so much more rewarding than my paid job,” says Kahn. When she decided to commit herself to this work full time, it led to the birth of OzHarvest.
Over the last two decades, the organization has evolved significantly, expanding beyond food rescue. To engage young people, they launched FEAST, one of several education programs they run. In a 10-week term, their curriculum for primary and high schools teaches students about sustainability, nutrition, and cooking. It’s “creating little eco-activists and climate warriors,” Kahn tells Food Tank.
And through OzHarvest Ventures, they advance commercial solutions by launching, partnering, and scaling mission-driven businesses aligned with the nonprofit’s work. “Innovation is in our DNA,” says Kahn, who now holds the title of the organization’s Visionary in Residence after stepping down as CEO last year. “I never thought of myself as an entrepreneur, but clearly what I care about most is innovation, creating, and recreating.”
The products supported by OzHarvest Ventures fit into a circular economy model, repurposing ingredients that would have otherwise gone to waste. Conscious Drink, for example, is a non-alcoholic beverage made from rescued blueberries and indigenous aromatics. Oh! Lemonaid is a sparkling lemonade made from imperfect lemons that couldn’t make it to market. The sales from OzHarvest Ventures then help the organization deliver meals to those in need.
“We really have to redesign society,” Kahn tells Food Tank. “Some people probably think I’m completely mad—they probably always have, and that’s okay—but I have set a goal that we need to end hunger because we’ve created it, so we can uncreate it.”
Listen to or watch the full conversation with Ronni Kahn on “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg” to hear more about OzHarvest’s food waste solutions, bringing dignity to supporting neighbors, and “Voices of Australian Farmers: A Love Story,” presented by Food Tank and OzHarvest coming to the Adelaide Fringe Festival on February 20, 2026.
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Photo courtesy of OzHarvest
