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Australia’s largest Mexican Restaurant group in partnership with 3 NFPs to aid food insecurity

Menchie Khairuddin October 27, 2022

2 min read

Zambrero achieves 60 million meals donated and distributed to those facing world hunger.

Zambrero has achieved one of the most impactful food relief milestones of any fast food restaurant in Australia, packing over 430,000 meals in one day, to help end world hunger through its three not-for-profit delivery partners; Rise Against Hunger, Foodbank and Love Mercy.

Zambrero, Australia’s largest Mexican restaurant group, has this week reached a major milestone as part of their Plate 4 Plate social mission; distributing over 60 million meals to help end world hunger since the inception of their Plate 4 Plate initiative.

This distribution milestone will be realised on 19 October 2022, through their annual meal packing events held in six locations around the country – Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and Tasmania.

More than 1,600 volunteers will pack over 430,000 meals to then be delivered to communities in Timor-Leste, and these meal packing events will see the completion and fulfillment of the 60 million meals donated and distributed to date.

“Our humanitarian mission is a core part of our business’ DNA. We see it as what our Feel Good Mex proposition is all about; healthy, delicious food which makes you feel good, while also doing good for others,” said Matthew Kenny, CEO Zambrero – Australia.

The Zambrero Plate 4 Plate social mission sees a meal donated to charity programs for every burrito, bowl or grab-and-go retail item purchased at one of their 240 restaurants in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the United States and the United Kingdom.

“We hear from our franchise partners and team, day in and day out, that Plate 4 Plate is what gets them involved in Zambrero and drives them to work with us to grow the business. Simply put, Plate 4 Plate is why we do what we do, and we are immensely proud of what we have achieved so far,” said Kenny.

“As we continue to expand our restaurant network both here, and overseas, it really means more than just footprint, it means us driving the business at scale and with a strong determination to see us reach our goal of donating one billion meals by 2025.”

“The partners we work with are long-term partnerships and are specifically selected for their program design as they are not just tackling hunger or food insecurity as a standalone challenge,” said Bianca Azzopardi, Social Mission Lead and CEO Zambrero – North America.

“These partners are deploying meal programs as a means to encourage school attendance, facilitate business coaching for women, and other much needed aid and development approaches designed to end poverty by creating long-term systematic change in these communities.”

In addition to the meal packing events, Zambrero will also be offering double donations in-restaurants, through the Zam App pick-up orders, and via delivery on Wednesday 19 October, which means for every burrito, bowl and retail product purchased on that day, an extra meal will be donated.

To learn more about the Plate 4 Plate initiative go to their website.

Menchie Khairuddin

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Menchie Khairuddin is a writer Deputy Content Manager at Akolade and content producer for Third Sector News. She is passionate about social affairs specifically in mixed, multicultural heritage and not-for-profit organisations.