Daily delivers for OZHarvest

Successful charity looks to Iveco for its efficient low-emission engine

OzHarvest is a unique organisation in that it collects unwanted fresh food from supermarkets, restaurants, shops, caterers and manufacturers, and promptly delivers it to needy individuals and charities. All food is collected and delivered free of charge.

Founded in November 2004 by its dynamic CEO Ronni Kahn, OzHarvest has grown from delivering 4000 meals to 14 shelters in one month, to now deliver 850,000 meals a month to over 800 charities across seven major Australian cities, using a fleet of 32 vans.

Since its inception, more than 45 million meals have been delivered to 850 different charities, saving 15,000 tonnes of fresh food that otherwise would have been thrown out and gone straight to landfill.

In 2013, OzHarvest received the United Nations World Environment Day Award for Community, and through numerous personal awards Ronni has been recognised as a leader in the fields of entrepreneurship, social impact and innovation. She was also responsible for having legislation changed to protect companies from any liability when donating quality excess food to OzHarvest.

For the purchase of its newest van, OzHarvest selected an Iveco Daily 35S13, a further two Dailys will also join the fleet in the coming weeks. A number of factors were considered when making this selection, but for Ronni and her management team what carried greatest weight was the van’s environmental credentials.

"We were seeking a vehicle with the most energy-efficient engine and lowest possible emissions. The Daily 2.3-litre diesel fitted the bill perfectly," Ronni said.

With 93kW of power and 320Nm of torque, the engine is the smaller of three engine outputs available in the Daily, but according to Ronni it's entirely adequate to transport the 1000kg of food usually carried in the van.

The fully refrigerated 12 cubic metre storage area of the van, without shelving, is neatly packed with food containers, that are transported to central city and suburban locations throughout an eight hour shift per driver.

The OzHarvest Daily has been specified with the eight-speed automatic transmission. “Utilising a large number of volunteer drivers, this is the best option for us. Some of our younger drivers have never even driven a manual vehicle,” Ronni said.

The reversing camera plus proximity signal are also necessary features for OzHarvest. Further, with many pick-ups and deliveries taking place in narrow city lanes, access to the storage section from a side sliding door as well as rear doors is essential.

"All our volunteers who use the Daily say it is easy to drive, much like a car, and very manoeuvrable. Being able to access the storage area from the rear or side of the vehicle greatly enhances its ease of use. Also, considering it is driven about 1000km a week, the cabin is a mobile office for our drivers, so comfort and safety are a high priority," Ronni added.

Comfort requirements are catered to in the Daily by independent front suspension, heated, suspended and adjustable seats, and three storage areas above the dashboard. Safety features include stability control, driver, passenger and curtain airbags, hill holder, plus front and rear disc brakes.

OzHarvest is already contemplating their next purchase from Iveco. They follow the practice of regularly servicing their vehicles and holding onto them indefinitely.

"From what our research indicated, we expect to get 300,000km plus out of our Dailys, so we plan to keep each one for many years. So far we’ve been very happy with this one, it suits our needs and fits our image perfectly," she said.

"As we state on our vehicles, the purpose of OzHarvest is to nourish our country. In reality what we are doing is bringing happiness, smiles and joy to thousands of people in need, by giving them beautiful quality surplus fresh food. In this task we are pleased that Iveco is partnering with us, as part of their corporate social responsibility, and we are finding them to be very good people to deal with," Ronni said.

Daily delivers for OZHarvest

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