Kruno Velican learnt from a very early age not to take food for granted. Growing up in Croatia, Kruno fondly remembers his parents returning home from work to prepare the evening meal for his family to share. Throughout his life, Kruno has observed that “Reality can change very often and you need to appreciate the provision of a meal from the farmer who put efforts to grow to someone who cooks it for you, it needs to be cherished”.
Far from his family’s home, Kruno now runs the Kitchen at Sydney’s Hilton Hotel and firmly believes that hospitality should extend to the communities where you work “If you have a surplus of food, just observe the community where you operate, there are so many who can’t afford good food.”
Interestingly , since starting food donation Kruno has seen many benefits for the Iconic Sydney Hotel. The first being financial in that you lose the burden of processing food surplus. The second is team engagement and Kruno has witnessed a change in the behaviors of his team, who have expressed because of the food donation program, their job has a deeper meaning. Lastly he acknowledges that having a social program provides a competitive advantage, observing that more and more businesses wanted to work with them as they could see a synergy in values and wanted to connect with them.
“Sustainability has become important for everyone, and food donation is a big part of it. The food wastage is a big ticket for anyone, the worst thing you can do is put it into landfill. We had the privilege to see the effect on what we are doing here and to see in people’s eyes how grateful they are is more than words can describe.” Kruno adds.
Kruno has been donating to the Food Pantry at Addi Road via the WOWFood Innerwest program for over a year.
Become a donor or encourage your local supermarket/supplier/distributor/coop to become one. More info at addiroad.org.au/wow-food-innerwest/