The theme for World Food Day 2026, “Innovate today. Nourish tomorrow.”, highlights the need to rethink how our food system works and make better use of the food already available.

FoodForward SA’s annual packing event put this into action, with more than 400 volunteers packing 1,761 food boxes for distribution through our national network of Beneficiary Organisations, supporting communities across South Africa.

We extend our sincere thanks to our event partners, SPAR South Africa, McCain Foods, McDonald’s South Africa, Nedbank, Sanlam, Kuehne+Nagel, Quantum Foods, SITA, L’Oréal, OneFarm Impact, Oceana Group, Langeberg Foods and Compendium Insurance Brokers, for their support. And to every volunteer who gave their time and energy, thank you for helping make this collective effort possible.

The World Food Day spirit continues

The impact extended beyond our main event, with additional packing events hosted by our partners.

Nedbank teams in Johannesburg and Durban marked the occasion by hosting packing events at their offices, preparing 850 food boxes for distribution through FoodForward SA’s network.

Following World Food Day, the team at McDonald’s Head Office packed another 535 food boxes, providing 21,440 meals for distribution through our Beneficiary Organisation network.

We value the support and enthusiasm of both teams in helping us get more quality food to the people who need it most.

Turning surplus into nourishment

With an estimated 17.8 million people in South Africa experiencing food insecurity, recovering and redistributing quality surplus food offers a practical way to improve access to nutritious food while reducing food loss and waste.

Addressing these connected challenges requires more than innovation alone. It means strengthening existing food recovery systems and building collaboration across the food supply chain to connect quality surplus food with the communities that need it.

Thank you to our partners and volunteers for being part of this collective effort. Together, we can make better use of available food resources, strengthen food security, and nourish communities through food recovery.