'Care, respect and dignity' as first free supermarket offering 'rescued' items opens in Adelaide (2024)

Adelaide's first free supermarket will officially fling open its doors for the first time today in a bid to ease the cost of living for people in need while reducing food waste.

The OzHarvest grocery store at Hindmarsh, in Adelaide's inner west, offers produce, pantry items and cooked meals rescued from local businesses to people in need — for free.

For Joel Greenstock and his partner Andrea Caple, who will be some of the first customers through the door, the supermarket will make a massive difference.

"My partner and I are living in a tent at the moment down at Semaphore Caravan Park. It's been a bit hard, but things like this when we're on low incomes really help out a lot," Mr Greenstock said.

"Unfortunately, we woke up this morning in the caravan park and some people had broken in and stolen some of the meals I'd already pre-made from the fridge."

The pair know all too well just how important food is in keeping their heads up during challenging times.

"If you eat well, if you're looked after well, it helps you dress a bit better, even in the worst circ*mstances, and it really keeps your positive attitude going as well," Mr Greenstock said.

"There's going to be people who have children, people from all sorts of walks of life, people struggling, people that are going to be looking like an absolute shambles, which are just great people, and they're just trying to get along as well."

For Max, who lives with Down syndrome, the free supermarket means better access to nutritious produce.

His support worker, Cathrin Gill, said the new supermarket would also help to hone and encourage new kitchen skills.

"Our clients have a very low income, so they mainly live off their disability support pension … and this just gives them opportunity and access to meals that wouldn't always be available for them," Ms Gill said.

"Living on takeaway isn't ideal, but it's often really convenient for people with a disability on low income, but this has given them new chances to increase their cooking skills and [provided access to] nutritious meals."

It is the first fully free supermarket in Adelaide, where food that would have otherwise gone to waste has been rescued from the supply chain and made available for people doing it tough.

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OzHarvest Founder Ronni Kahn AO said many charities were experiencing more demand than ever before.

"In my 20 years of running OzHarvest I have never seen the demand as great — the cost of living, the results of post-COVID — it's biting into ordinary working people," she said.

"The need is enormous … charities are telling us they need 50 per cent more food, and we are seeing queues lining up for fresh produce."

It follows the same model as a free supermarket in Sydney.

"What we've seen in Sydney is that the demand has gone up from 150 people a day to 500 people a day. We deliver the equivalent of half a million meals a week out into the community, and it's not enough," Ms Kahn said.

OzHarvest SA manager Rachel Hibble said the cost of living crisis was affecting people from all walks of life.

"We know that nearly half the South Australian population, as reflecting the rest of the country, is experiencing some sort of anxiety around thinking about where food is coming from, their next meal, people are making really tough decisions about what they spend their money on," she said.

"We have international students, we have families with young kids, we have overflow from domestic violence shelters, all sorts of people that are just needing a hand."

The Manton Street supermarket will be open from 10am to 2pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and from 3pm to 7pm on Wednesdays.

"We're opening after hours on Wednesdays to really look after the newest cohort of food release seekers, and they're full-time workers; couples that are holding down full-time jobs but are just struggling to pay rent, pay the bills, so [this will] allow them to go to work, come here afterwards and get some food," Ms Hibble said.

"Everyone is deserving, so we want to make it as accessible as possible."

Ms Kahn said customers had to be prepared for anything, with produce changing from day to day depending on what the charity could source from donors.

But, she said customers could always expect a warm welcome.

"Our volunteers just treat our guests in our supermarket with such care, respect and dignity, and that, I think, is what is so important," she said.

"The free supermarket is open to anyone in need. We do not ask any questions.

"Our intention is it's for people in need, and so the invitation is out there for anyone who's struggling at the moment, for anyone who has financial vulnerability, the free supermarket is here to support you."