The impact of COVID-19 on food rescue organisations in Aotearoa New Zealand and future crisis management

The study analyses the resilience of food rescue organisations’ operating as “essential services” in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020) in Aotearoa New Zealand. It explores the impact of COVID-19 on the organisations’ operation, preparedness, and potential positive impacts.

The study employed a qualitative approach based on semi-structured interviews with 19 out of 23 active food rescue organisations across the country. Interview participants included CEOs, founders, managers, and coordinators.

The study identifies six impact areas experienced by food rescue organisations during COVID-19, policy and preparedness, funding, operation - logistics and personnel, supply continuity, food security and sector collaboration. Despite these impacts, the organisations showcased admirable resilience through innovation, adaptability, and collaborative practices, enabling the continuation of their services during the crisis.

The paper provides a three-stage crisis management framework to guide the development and implementation of a crisis management plan to improve the resilience and preparedness of food rescue organisations’ response to future crises. The framework is flexible and adaptable to each food rescue organisation’s unique operation and capacity.

This paper offers a retrospective analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 on 83% of food rescue organisations in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is the first paper to study the impact of COVID-19 on food rescue organisations.