Everybody Eats is a New Zealand charity dedicated to eradicating food waste, and food poverty, by up-cycling excess supermarket stock and serving it to those in need.

Their mission is to 'Feed bellies. Not bins.'

With 1 in 5 Kiwis today living in some form of food poverty, demand for the service is ever increasing. As is New Zealand's food waste problem, with over 157,000 tonnes of good food wasted annually.

Everybody Eats aims to address this tragic irony across all parts of their business.

Our brief was to convince more fortunate Kiwis – those with plenty – to support the good work of Everybody Eats with donations, so they can continue to feed New Zealand's most vulnerable.

And as always, continue to address New Zealand's waste problem where feasible in the process.

We took an un-utilised item, found in almost every NZ restaurant – the takeaway box – a polystyrene symbol for 'cheapness', and turned it into a payment channel for good.

We called it the Goodie Box. A takeaway box that’s not just for the diner.

It lets diners who don't just have enough, but have too much food, make a donation to those with nothing – in the most poignant moment when their privilege is most obvious, and they're most predisposed to generosity.

In doing so, we created a takeaway box that address two problems – food poverty and food waste – by making the user feel good, and therefore more inclined to take their leftovers.

The cost to Everybody Eats? Nothing. Restaurants buy the empty boxes from the supplier, and diners make the donations. A new, 100% sustainable revenue stream, from what was destined for the bin.

Our target was high-value Kiwis, who have plenty, who don't think twice about what they eat or how much it costs.

Kiwis with the means to enjoy dinners out. Kiwis who have declined to take their leftovers home, until now.

"95% of Kiwi's want to take their leftovers home, but only 5% are brave enough to ask." - Love Food Hate Waste 2020.

This revelation was our way in.

If we could give diners the confidence to ask to take away their (often very pricey) leftovers, and actually make them feel good about it (by feeding someone less privileged), they might just be able to address both problems at the same time.

And if we could make the payment process completely effortless, there was every chance they'd do it. (Which they did, and continue to).

The Goodie Box is designed to be an ongoing revenue stream to run in perpetuity.

The box itself was the primary media channel, intercepting diners in over 70 of New Zealand's best restaurants – delivered to the table by waitstaff (trained by us), or on request. As the campaign progresses, more restaurants are signing up every week.

To donate, diners simply scan the QR-code and pay with either Apple Pay, Google Pay or credit card.

To launch, the boxes were supported with a nationwide campaign:

• PR (TV/Radio/Press/Editorial) - launched the idea & began a conversation about how we need to change our thinking around leftovers.

• OOH, Digital, Social - reminded diners and their friends on the way to dinner, what taking a Goodie means for the Kiwis they help to feed.

The Goodie Box is still live in market and will continue to run in perpetuity.

• Over 100,000 meals have been taken home to feed hungry bellies since launch.

• In 70+ affiliated restaurants across NZ, with more joining every week. 100 more to come on board by year end.

• 90% of diners in affiliated restaurants now take their leftovers (compared to just 5% previously).

• Saving tonnes of landfill every year.

• Helping feed hundreds of Kiwis every day at Everybody Eats kitchens.

• Ongoing cost to Everybody Eats is zero. Restaurants buy the box from the supplier. Diners make the donations.

• Thanks to the ongoing revenue generated from the Goodie Boxes, Everybody Eats will be opening a new venue in July 2023.

• Based on initial success, two new box sizes have recently been added to the offering, and a pizza box is in the works.