Imagine going to a dinner party with Neil Perry, Peter Gilmore, Matt Moran and Christine Manfield. Not just that – picture being their sous chef for the day. That’s (kinda) a taster of what Australia’s most legendary business leaders will be doing at OzHarvest’s first nationwide CEO CookOff this October – all to raise funds to provide 2 million meals for people in need. Including Time Out's very own Managing Director, Kaylie Smith!
Whether you’re familiar with OzHarvest or not, you’ve likely seen their sunny yellow vans collecting surplus food and delivering meals to communities across the country. As Australia’s leading food rescue organisation, their incredible team has delivered more than 300 million meals and saved almost 100,000 tonnes of food from landfill to date.
Since its launch in 2012, OzHarvest’s flagship fundraising event, the CEO CookOff, has delivered 16 million meals of these meals to people in need. This year’s event is a major milestone, marking the first nationwide edition. Top chefs and industry leaders will unite at nine CookOffs across seven states, including at Three Blue Ducks in Sydney, which is where our very own Kaylie will be cooking on the evening of Monday, October 20.
There will also be CookOffs going down at Perth City Farm, Brisbane Powerhouse, Matt Moran’s Compa in Canberra, and OzHarvest’s Melbourne HQ.
The all-star culinary line-up features chefs Neil Perry AM, Peter Gilmore, Corey Costelloe, Andrew McConnell, Christine Manfield and ‘Big’ Sam Young (plus Kaylie, our favourite). Plenty of MasterChef legends are joining the fundraising fiesta too, including Andy Allen, Justine Schofield, Mindy Woods and Sarah Todd – with more chefs to be announced soon. On the business side, CEOs from Canva, Canon and Pinterest and Nestlé will be joining our boss in trading their workwear for aprons.
OzHarvest Founder Ronni Kahn AO said, “With Australia facing a growing food crisis – over 3.4 million households are struggling to put food on the table – supporting our cause is more important than ever.”
After creating gourmet meals, the chefs and CEOs will serve and dine alongside special guests from the charities OzHarvest supports. As Kahn says, “The magic of this event is when you sit down, share a meal and have a conversation with someone, knowing you’re helping put food on their table.”
Every dollar raised enables OzHarvest to deliver two meals for someone in need. You can donate to the CEO CookOff here.