The business used the Directory to identify six organisations with the potential to help.
"The Circular Economy Directory and the team at Sustainable Business Network were amazingly helpful and responsive when we identified the need to reach out to some amazing New Zealand businesses," says Alice Ingham, Natural Pet Food Group's Global E-Commerce Manager.
After assessing the various solutions, the business chose to partner with New Zealand Food Network (NZFN). NZFN is a not-for-profit focused on collecting and redistributing surplus and donated food to people in need (and their pets) around Aotearoa New Zealand. With Natural Pet Food Group's manufacturing partners and distribution facilities based in Hawke's Bay, NZFN is using local partners to redistribute most of the businesses' excess product within the region.
In the first four months since adopting this solution, Natural Pet Food Group donated more than 9000 kilograms of pet food to 20 charity groups in Hawke's Bay and around the country.
While the business is continually looking at optimising its supply chain to remove and reduce excess product, the solution it found in the Directory is helping to turn “waste” into a valuable resource in the short term.
The Natural Pet Food Group is an impact investor with the Sustainable Business Network.