Theme’s industry rep Francesca Goodman-Smith wins Sustainable Business Award

Congratulations to the research theme’s industry representative, and Foodstuffs NZ’s Waste Minimisation Manager, Francesca Goodman-Smith who has just won the change-maker category at the Sustainable Business Awards.

Here is what the Sustainable Business Network had to say about her:

“At the age of 26, Francesca Goodman-Smith has carved a pathway as one of New Zealand’s leaders in food waste minimisation. She has revamped and implemented an award-winning waste minimisation programme in 130 Foodstuffs stores.

At the University of Otago Francesca focused her studies on food access and waste, volunteering at food rescue organisation KiwiHarvest. She developed and facilitated workshops to support whānau to cook healthy kai and for businesses and students to minimise food waste.

Francesca tutored the University’s pioneering food waste course. She was awarded a Master of Science with Distinction for her research into food waste in supermarkets, which acts as baseline data for the sector.

Since joining Foodstuffs, Francesca has jumped into sector leadership roles – as Committee Co-Chair for the Upcycled Food Association, as a NZ Food Waste Champion and as the University of Otago’s Industry Representative on Food Waste Innovation. She regularly publishes and presents research, recently receiving third prize at the International Solid Waste Association Young Professionals Conference.”