Founder and director Deborah Manning said the upgrade was "much-needed" because of the overwhelming rising demand for food assistance across the region and the country.
"Our Dunedin team has been operating out of a small office and sorting room for a number of years.
"It was our original site when KiwiHarvest was established, initially as FoodShare, over nine years ago.
"While there’s a great deal of sentimental value in the space — many memories created and milestones celebrated — we’ve long since outgrown the premises."
She said KiwiHarvest had been forced to grow at an "exponential rate" to match the rapidly expanding demand for food assistance throughout Otago.
The new warehouse’s 360sqm of floor space would enable the Dunedin branch to be outfitted with reefers, racking and a forklift for the first time.
"The opening of this new branch means we’re now able to receive larger pallets of donated and rescued goods, to redistribute further out into the local communities and wider regions — including Oamaru, Balclutha and Alexandra."
Over the past year, Dunedin had distributed 215,043kg of food into the local community, which was an increase of nearly 34% from the 160,281kg distributed during the previous year.
"With rising unemployment and more Kiwis reliant on financial or food assistance than ever before, the impacts of Covid-19 have been felt heavily across our region.
"While we won’t be able to solve the issues of food insecurity, thanks to the Ministry of Social Development, the Dunedin City Council and all of our other generous partners, we will be able to further our reach into neighbouring regions and feed more families in need," she said.
KiwiHarvest also recently opened a new Queenstown branch to service the Cromwell and Wanaka areas.
KiwiHarvest is a national food rescue organisation that collects surplus and donated food, and distributes it throughout New Zealand to community organisations, providing food support to those in need.
It services demand for 249 registered charities and community groups that include welfare groups, marae, city missions, local Salvation Army groups and schools.
Since it was established in 2012, it has rescued more than 6millionkg of food and delivered more than 17million meal equivalents to vulnerable New Zealanders.
