OzHarvest, Australia’s most renowned food rescue charity, has announced chef, restaurateur and TV celebrity, George Calombaris, as an ambassador.
Founder and CEO, Ronni Kahn, was keen to welcome George on board when she discovered his ethos and passion for food and minimising waste.
OzHarvest ambassador George Calombaris and OzHarvest CEO Ronni Kahn.
George joins an ambassadorial line-up of the some of the biggest names in food in Australia including Neil Perry, Maggie Beer, Matt Moran, Bill Granger and Peter Gilmore, together with patron Therese Rein.
In October 2006, at the age of 27, George opened his flagship restaurant The Press Club Restaurant and Bar. George’s modern Greek concept paid off and at the The Age Good Food Guide Awards 2008, The Press Club was awarded two prestigious chef hats and named Best New Restaurant. George was also awarded Chef of the Year in 2009 and has also been named one of Melbourne’s Top 100 Most Influential People by The Age (melbourne) Magazine.
Since then, George has headed up the Little Press & Cellar, Maha, the modern Greek taverna Hellenic Republic, PM24, St Katherine’s and in January 2012 opened his latest venture, the Italian restaurant Mama Baba, all by the age of 33. He is also a renowned as a judge on one of Australia’s most successful TV shows, and great supporter of OzHarvest’s, MasterChef.
“OzHarvest? As a charity, it doesn’t get any better than this. As a chef and restaurateur, I hate waste. I also come from a background where growing up, we wasted absolutely nothing so I am honoured to be an OzHarvest ambassador because everything about it makes sense to me. Most of us lead lucky lives and, for me, it’s important to give back. My involvement with OzHarvest is a way I can do that.”
OzHarvest is the nation’s leading food rescue operation that has been feeding Sydney, Newcastle,Wollongong, Adelaide and Brisbane’s hungry since 2004.
Since 2004, OzHarvest has delivered over 12.5 million meals and has rescued over 2400 tonnes of food from ending up as landfill. Using a fleet of 15 vehicles, OzHarvest rescues food from restaurants, cafes, hotels, retailers and food outlets throughout these cities as well as helping in rural areas with their regional food rescue program REAP. OzHarvest has plans to expand the food-rescue service nationally to other capital cities.
Founded in November 2004 by Ronni Kahn, an event organiser who was so stunned at the amount of food wasted she did something about it.
Thanks to OzHarvest, many men, women and children at the agencies that OzHarvest supports, now have a wider supply and variety of fresh and cooked food, fruit and vegetables which they could not access previously.
13,000 meals delivered daily, across Australia (330,000 meals per month) 120 tonnes of food picked up nationally per month OzHarvest services more than 400 charities nationally
