Page 8 - Australian Pork Newspaper

Food Connect founders Robert Pekin and Emma-Kate Rose.
BRISBANE-based ethi- cal food business Food Connect Shed has raised over $800,000 from the public to create Aus- tralia’s first community- owned food hub, and has landed some major ten- ants in their proposed space.
OzHarvest and Bal- listic Beer Co have both announced they will be cornerstone tenants in the new Local Food Hub, as well as seven additional
tenants who have come on board in the past three weeks.
Food Connect Shed di- rector Robert Pekin is ex- cited about the announce- ment.
“We already had nine tenants in the space, but these two announcements mean we have 88 percent of the warehouse leased, which provides some long-term security for our investors and an exciting opportunity to collaborate together,” Mr Pekin said.
“Now we need to raise the final funding to make sure this space is owned by our community.”
OzHarvest CEO and founder Ronni Kahn said
the move to the Food Con- nect Shed was an exciting opportunity and aligns with OzHarvest’s purpose to ‘nourish our country’.
It will also help recon- nect consumers with the value of food, raise aware- ness about food waste and support local farmers.
“We are so excited to be part of Food Connect’s vi- sion to create Australia’s first community-owned food hub,” she said.
“This supportive, inno- vative and creative hub offers the potential to bring farmers, foodies and consumers together under one roof to drive positive changes in how we shop,
interact and nourish our families.
“In addition to being our home base for our eight food rescue vehi- cles, OzHarvest is plan- ning to build a beautiful new commercial kitchen within our space to in- crease our existing cor- porate team building of- fering, catering business and community cooking classes.”
OzHarvest Brisbane col- lects over 100 tonnes of quality surplus food from more than 200 food out- lets each month and deliv- ers directly to over 125 local charities.
The Food Connect Shed equity crowdfund- ing campaign has been running for eight weeks, and 352 investors have pledged almost $800,000 to date.
They have three weeks to hit the minimum goal of $2 million, or the mon- ey won’t be processed.
The campaign will run until November 10 or when the campaign is fully subscribed.
You can view the cam- paign at pledgeme.com. au/investments/2-food- connect-shed-ltd
About Food Connect Shed
Food Connect Shed Limited is a new public unlisted company part owned by the Food Con- nect founders Robert Pe- kin and Emma-Kate, as well as the Food Connect Foundation Limited.
The new company will aim to generate revenue through rental fees and venue hire.
The warehouse current- ly has 12 tenants, with aims of adding 30 new tenants over the next three years.
About the equity cam- paign
Food Connect Shed wants to raise between $2 million and $4 million, which will represent 90 percent of the company.
The shares are priced at $1 per share, the minimum investment is $500 and the maximum is $10,000 un- less an investor is certified as ‘sophisticated’.
Funds raised will be used to buy the existing warehouse, and if the minimum goal is exceed- ed the funds will be used to refurbish and retrofit the warehouse.
Investors will own shares in the company that owns the warehouse and manages the tenants in the space.
Potential investors should consider the offer document and full risk warning statement before investing.
About OzHarvest
OzHarvest is Australia’s leading food rescue or- ganisation, collecting quality surplus food from more than 3500 business- es, including supermar- kets, restaurants, cafes, hotels, retailers, airports and retail food outlets.
Every week over 180 tonnes of food is saved from going to landfill and delivered to 1300-plus charitable agencies, help- ing to make a positive dif- ference to the lives of vul- nerable men, women and children across Australia.
OzHarvest addresses food security through ed- ucation programs NEST (nutrition education suste- nance training) and Nour- ish, a hospitality training program for disadvan- taged youth.
It operates nationally in Sydney, Adelaide, Bris- bane, Canberra, Cairns, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Newcastle and Perth and in regional communities.
Every $1 donated allows OzHarvest to deliver two meals to people in need.
www.ozharvest.org
Food waste facts
• Food waste in Aus- tralia costs an estimated $20 billion each year in commercial and residen- tial waste.
• Over 5.3 million tonnes of food ends up as landfill each year.
• One in five shopping bags end up in the bin, which equals $1036 worth of groceries per house- hold each year.
• 35 percent of the aver- age household bin is food waste.
• Over four million peo- ple experience food in- security each year. One- third are children.
OzHarvest CEO and Founder Ronni Kahn.
Rescuing quality surplus food is a core commitment for OzHarvest.
Local Food Hub support is growing with OzHarvest Brisbane and Food Connect to work together under one roof
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Page 8 – Australian Pork Newspaper, November 2018
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