Love Food Hate Waste grants open 9 February 2026
Auckland Council is offering grants of up to $6,000 each for projects that help Aucklanders reduce food waste.
Love Food Hate Waste grants are awarded to individuals and organisations delivering food waste prevention initiatives. These could include anything from community workshops to teach meal planning and tips on using leftovers, to awareness-raising campaigns, events, digital content and more.
Individuals and organisations can apply for a grant from $500 to $6,000 per project to educate Aucklanders and households on how to make the most of their kai and prevent food waste.
This year, the maximum grant value has increased from $5,000 to $6,000 in recognition of increased costs to deliver initiatives. Priority will go to projects that help engage new and diverse communities and promote practical, achievable ways to prevent avoidable food waste.
Fundraising and Programme Manager Joanne Kyriazopoulos of Kaipātiki Project Ecohub, which received a grant in 2024 to run food waste minimisation workshops, says people are eager to learn how they can make food go further, save money and live more sustainably.
“Our workshops were well attended and people loved walking away with simple, practical tips they could use straight away. They discovered that making the most of food isn’t hard or time-consuming – and it can be tasty! These workshops wouldn’t have been possible without the support from the Love Food Hate Waste grant.”
Previous successful initiatives have focused on a broad range of activities like making food and household budgets stretch further, cooking classes and growing produce, canning and preserving foods, creative ways to plan meals and shop, knowledge sharing within communities and across generations.
Auckland Council General Manager Waste Solutions Justine Haves says many communities already have practical skills for preventing food waste, and the grant helps empower them to share that knowledge more widely.
“The Love Food Hate Waste grants are designed to support practical, community‑led ideas that help Aucklanders enjoy more of the food they buy and grow. I strongly encourage individuals and organisations to apply. Every initiative, big or small, plays a part in preventing edible food from being wasted,” says Ms Haves.
Applications for Auckland Council’s Love Food Hate Waste grants open on 9 February 2026 and close on 15 March 2026, with successful applicants being notified in April.
Details are now live on the Council website.
Auckland Council supports Love Food Hate Waste NZ, a nationwide movement highlighting the issue of preventable food waste and aiming to reduce the amount of edible food thrown out each year.
According to the 2025 Rabobank–KiwiHarvest Food Waste Survey, New Zealanders waste around $3 billion worth of food every year or around $1,364 per household. For more information on Love Food Hate Waste NZ, visit lovefoodhatewaste.co.nz
Auckland Council’s Love Food Hate Waste fund supports projects focused on preventing food waste at the household level – before food becomes waste. Projects involving food waste processing, composting, or food scraps diversion from landfill should instead apply to the Waste Minimisation and Innovation Fund (WMIF), when it becomes available.