A community that is better together

Our three-year partnership with the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation (SAKGF) aims to help Australian children develop positive food habits, as well as build self-confidence and life skills.

Since the launch of the partnership with the SAKGF in 2020, Coles has donated more than $1.6 million and partnered with over 70 Coles supermarket stores with local Kitchen Garden Program schools to empower more young Australians to grow, harvest, prepare and share.

Our national partnership with Little Athletics, together with the Coles AFL Healthy Kicks program seek to help the youngest members of the community to stay fit and be active. 

In FY23, Coles provided more than $250,000 in sports equipment grants to 73 Little Athletics centres across Australia, taking the total contribution of Little Athletics grants to over $2.2 million since 2018. We also raised $150,000 for the Coles Little Athletics Community Fund through the Little Athletics Banana A-Peel in May. 

In addition, hundreds of our supermarkets continued to team up with their local Little Athletics Centres, donating thousands of bananas each week throughout the season to encourage healthy eating and supporting grassroots initiatives like Coles Community Round.

Coles continued its role as the Official Supermarket of the AFL and AFLW in FY23, investing in both women’s and men’s football from grassroots local footy to the elite professional game, with a shared focus on healthy lifestyles.

In addition to the partnership with the AFL, Coles also continued its support of AFL Women's club Essendon to provide opportunities for talented female footballers from the Tiwi Islands. Opportunities include fully immersive experiences in Melbourne with the club as well as nutrition education provided by Coles. As part of our AFL partnership Coles Healthy Kicks continues to evolve and grow.

The Coles Healthy Kicks program motivates children aged between six and 12 years to become more physically active, eat nutritious food and develop a healthy mind and body while having fun with others. This year we commenced Coles Healthy Kicks Camps and introduced Coles Healthy Kicks curriculum directly into 3,000 schools. In FY23, more than 16,000 children across Australia participated in a Healthy Kicks program.

Food rescue organisation SecondBite collects unsold, edible food directly from our supermarkets or organises for local charities and not-for-profits to collect on its behalf. In addition to collecting and redistributing food from our supermarkets, SecondBite collects food from our fresh and chilled distribution centres. The food we provide to SecondBite is distributed to more than 1,100 community partners that are helping Australians in need.

Coles and SecondBite have been working together since 2011 in the fight against hunger and food waste. Since the partnership began, Coles has provided SecondBite with the equivalent of more than 200 million meals.

Our partnership with SecondBite goes beyond donating food from Coles’ Supermarkets and distribution centres. We connect SecondBite to key suppliers who are also seeking to reduce food waste and support vulnerable people in their community.

Coles Supermarkets and liquor stores also provide fundraising opportunities via our customers through annual Winter and Christmas appeals and other promotional programs throughout the year. Across all fundraising activities, Coles raised and donated more than $7.1 million for SecondBite in FY23.

Coles has been in partnership with Redkite since 2013, raising more than $50 million to date. Our partnership has enabled Redkite to provide counselling services, financial assistance, information resources and education support to children with cancer and their families.

Funds raised by Coles over the past nine years have also enabled Redkite to provide 336 Dare to Dream Scholarships of up to $5,000 to support young Australians affected by cancer to achieve their goals
and ambitions.

In FY23, the total amount raised for Redkite by Coles, our team members and customers was $3.8 million. Of this, Coles contributed more than $1.6 million through the donation of five cents from the sale of every loaf of specially marked Coles Brand bread sold at Coles Supermarkets and Coles Express.

Coles has a long history of supporting local communities by raising and donating funds for disaster relief, as well as essential supplies to support emergency services and vulnerable communities.

In recent times, Coles and our customers have supported communities across Australia affected by bushfires, cyclones and floods.

In November 2022, when devastating floods hit towns in New South Wales and Victoria, our local stores donated essential products including cereal, water, milk, packaged items and pet food to flood-affected residents.

Coles Online delivered more than 7,500 essential groceries and sanitary products to the evacuation centre at Forbes High School, and provided hampers to residents of the flood-hit town of Eugowra, in New South Wales.

In Victoria, we donated 44 pallets of essential groceries, nappies and cleaning products to the local Emergency Relief Centre in Shepparton, and five pallets were delivered to the Njernda Aboriginal Corporation in Echuca for Indigenous residents. Coles also worked with charity Housing Justice to provide care packs to residents forced to relocate from Rochester.

Funds donated by our customers and Coles helped the Red Cross to support volunteers and staff to assist with evacuations, relief centres and cash assistance. In addition, monies raised will enable longer term recovery work in flood-affected communities.