The challenge

Food wastage is one of the key areas of focus for Woolworths in terms of sustainability and they implement several initiatives such as Sustainable Farming, Packaging, Informative Labelling, Surplus Food donations and education programs to combat the issue (Woolworths Food, 2019). The purpose of this brand communication was to raise awareness about food waste in South Africa and educate and encourage people to participate in activities that reduce wastage.

Our solution

The concept of Leftover Lovers was designed to encourage people to adopt a more positive outlook towards leftover food and to use leftovers to prevent food waste. The primary idea was to show people that leftovers don’t have to be bland and boring and can, in fact, be used to create delicious, exciting meals if prepared correctly. This is in response to research that showed that preparing too much food or incorrect preparation that creates leftovers, is a primary cause of household food waste. The online community served as a platform for users to share recipes and information regarding food waste but also to facilitate education with regards to the problem. The Leftover Lovers community centred around the Leftover Lovers, “Rule your Kitchen” competition which “gamified” the campaign to improve community engagement. The competition asked participants to upload their best leftover recipes and specify how the recipe prevents food waste. The community could then vote for their favourite recipes and the top recipes were judged based on the number of community votes as well as how viable, creative and sustainable the recipe was. The winner received the title of “King” or “Queen” of leftovers. Their Recipe was also featured on the Woolworths website and in TASTE (Woolworths) magazine.