Crossover between charities and social enterprises

In this episode of Change Loves Company, Dominique sits down with Louise Tran, a leader in food sustainability and social enterprise. As Head of OzHarvest Ventures and co-founder of Viet Harvest, Louise shares her journey from corporate marketing to purpose-driven impact, helping transform food waste into meals, livelihoods, and innovative circular business models.

They explore the difference between charity and social enterprise, the power of visionary leadership, and how business can blend profit and purpose to create real change for people and the planet. From rescuing surplus food to launching upcycled products and global collaborations, this conversation dives into what it takes to reimagine the food system and build a more sustainable future.

Transcript

Louise Tran 
 

[00:00:00] dominique: Welcome to the Change Loves Company podcast, where I sit down with the creatives, fundraisers, social entrepreneurs, artists and activists, all with one thing in common. They're changing the world for the better through their work. I'd like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land I'm recording on today, the Gadigal people of the EO nation, and pay my respects to elders [00:00:30] past, present, and emerging. 

[00:00:31] dominique: Always was, always will be. 

[00:00:39] dominique: Louise Tran is a change maker in food and sustainability leading OzHarvest Ventures to design bold, innovative, circular business models that drive positive impact on the food system. [00:00:50] As a member of OzHarvest leadership team, she spent more than 15 years. Shaping social enterprises and building purpose-driven business models. 

[00:00:58] dominique: In 2022, she co-founded  Viet Harvest based on the OzHarvest model, which has already served 200,000 meals to people across three cities in Vietnam. In the process, saving thousands of kilos of food from ending up in landfill. As founding chair of the Multicultural Leadership Initiative, she champions culturally diverse leadership in the climate movement. 

[00:01:17] dominique: She's a strategist, a storyteller, and a culture builder, and believes that business at its best blends profit and purpose to create lasting change for people and the planet. When she joined us in the Change Loves Company Studio, we chatted about the  similarities. Differences between charity and business and how the two can make a perfect philanthropic marriage. 

[00:01:36] dominique: Louise Tran, welcome to the studio and the Change Loves Company podcast. So amazing to have you here.  

[00:01:42] louise tran: Great to be here. Thank you.  

[00:01:44] dominique: We had a few, uh, false starts, but I finally button hold you at, um, at an event, um, and got you to, to commit. Um, so it's really great to have you in the studio. Um. Look, I wanna go back a little bit 'cause I understand you started in marketing and PR for relatively mainstream businesses, um, and organizations, um, and somehow ended up at OzHarvest. 

[00:02:04] dominique: What was the sort of the path that took you there?  

[00:02:07] louise tran: That's right. I, um, I started my career doing. As you said, marketing for really large FMCG, fast moving consumer goods companies in the food space, uh, in the food and beverage space.  Um, brands that I won't mention, but people will have heard of, uh, especially walking down all of your aisles and, um, in that role, uh, I, I was working within a company, uh, that also, uh, looked after. 

[00:02:35] louise tran: Other beautiful clients, um, one of which was [00:02:40] OzHarvest. And that was the first time that I'd come across OzHarvest. I'd been overseas prior to that traveling and, uh, studying, uh, overseas. [00:02:50] And when I met, uh, Ronnie Khan, the founder of OzHarvest, um, not only did I admire her. Vision and the work that Ahart was [00:03:00] doing. 

[00:03:00] louise tran: But I found myself, um, very, very drawn to working on promoting the cause and the work that Ahart was doing at, at the [00:03:10] time, um, that it was just, you know, it was just so inspiring to me to see the impact that Ahart had. Uh, and this, this is going back [00:03:20] 15 years ago.  

[00:03:21] dominique: Mm. And what were some of the things that were happening in the kind of the food space or the food waste space that were kind of, um, eye-opening for you?[00:03:30]  

[00:03:30] louise tran: I think when I was exposed to Oz Harvest, um, again, having not heard. Of food waste being a challenge here in [00:03:40] Australia. Uh, when I was exposed to the fact that at the time millions of kilograms of food was, was being [00:03:50] wasted in Australia, uh, equating to billions of dollars at the time, and so that was quite mind blowing to just be exposed to that as a concept, [00:04:00] uh, working in the commercial food. 

[00:04:03] louise tran: Industry promoting food products. And then on the flip side. Knowing that so much [00:04:10] produce was going to waste and products was going to waste, while understanding the need in the community was quite high in the sense that people were struggling to put food on the [00:04:20] table. Um, so that exposure, the realization that there are two sides to an industry, um, was quite eye-opening for me and I'd [00:04:30] always had roots in social justice and um, and I think. 

[00:04:34] louise tran: Uh, I kept leaning into OzHarvest and that leaning meant [00:04:40] doing more and more with OzHarvest and wanting to do more and more with Oz Harvest and, and, um, just again, being, being so inspired by that vision that Ronnie had.  

[00:04:48] dominique: Mm-hmm. So, [00:04:50] since joining, um, how has the organization evolved and how has your role there evolved during that time? 

[00:04:58] louise tran: So. [00:05:00] Again, going back 15 years ago, I don't think food waste was top of mind for anyone. Um, we have an abundance in [00:05:10] Australia. We grow enough food in Australia to feed 60 million people. We don't have 60 million population. Um, so even going back 15 years ago, I [00:05:20] think the, the, the key thing was to generate awareness, uh, around the issue of food waste, um, in Australia. 

[00:05:28] louise tran: Then that eventuated [00:05:30] into generating awareness about food waste across, across the world, um, and bringing that to, to the attention of the Australian public. So [00:05:40] 15 years ago, I don't believe that Ahart had the presence that it has today. And of course that comes with time comes with a lot of work. It comes with a lot of.[00:05:50]  

[00:05:50] louise tran: Work to educate people around food waste as a, as an issue. And the link that food waste has to climate change, um, and the solutions that [00:06:00] are around and the solutions that exist. So I think. It's hard to summarize in a short amount of time how that's evolved over [00:06:10] 15 years. Um, but I joined OzHarvest formally in a, in a, an official role in, in my first capacity as I [00:06:20] think the wearer of many hats that when I joined, I think there were under 12, between 12 and 20 people, including drivers and, um, [00:06:30] program leads and a volunteer coordinator. 

[00:06:33] louise tran: Um, and. I, my first role was, you know, how do we build [00:06:40] a bit of a brand presence around Ooz Harvest? How do we, uh, generate some awareness around the work that we do? Uh, what events and [00:06:50] activations could we, uh, come up with that would draw in the attention of the public, um, and consumers? Um, and so using the little [00:07:00] experience that I had or the experience I had working with. 

[00:07:04] louise tran: Major brands with very large budgets. Um, you know, we had to get creative. We had to get creative [00:07:10] about bringing that attention to, to consumers into the public.  

[00:07:13] dominique: Yeah. Amazing. And you've mentioned Ronnie Kahan, who is the founder, right. Of Ahart and, um, [00:07:20] quite larger than life, uh, personality, um, and a really now at least a very high profile. 

[00:07:27] dominique: Um, so how much of an influence [00:07:30] did. Or has her leadership had on, on the direction that Ahart has, has gone in those, in those years?  

[00:07:36] louise tran: Ex extraordinary influence, if there [00:07:40] was a word to describe, um, you know, another word to describe visionary. I mean, she clearly saw. A challenge that she [00:07:50] was seeing unfold in her industry before she started OzHarvest. 

[00:07:56] louise tran: Um, and that was in the events, catering and hospitality industry. [00:08:00] So I think at the time. She saw a challenge and she wanted to fix that, and that was food going to waste and [00:08:10] no way of connecting that to help feed those people who are going without food. Um, and I think that that drive the [00:08:20] determination, having people say, no, that's, you know, you can't do that. 

[00:08:24] louise tran: There's, there's all the barriers and all the reasons why you can't do what you are. Mm. Talking [00:08:30] about it only drove her to do to, to prove them wrong. Uh, to change some laws to make those law and legislation changes nationally. [00:08:40] Um, and that grit, the determination and that, um, persistence has led to 20 years later, education programs, [00:08:50] nutrition programs. 

[00:08:51] louise tran: Uh, the innovation that underpins the work that OzHarvest does is truly a result of that visionary leadership that Ronnie has. [00:09:00]  

[00:09:00] dominique: Yeah, so you, you now head up OzHarvest Ventures, which I assume has come out of that whole evolution of, okay, we're solving, uh, or [00:09:10] looking at solving a particular problem around food not being used or eaten. 

[00:09:15] dominique: Um, what can we do with it, you know, after an event or whatever it might be, to [00:09:20] so many more things now. So tell me a little bit about OzHarvest Ventures. What's your remit? What are you trying to achieve with that? And can you tell me about a couple of projects that have come out of it?  

[00:09:29] louise tran: [00:09:30] Absolutely Aus Harvest's purpose overall is to nourish our country. 

[00:09:35] louise tran: Um, and yet over the time we've, we've. Done food [00:09:40] rescue. It's a highly operational business function that very efficiently transports food waste from retail and food supply chains directly [00:09:50] to those charities that we service and feeds the community in need. Um. Over the years we've identified or we've learned along our journey, as any business learns [00:10:00] along the journey of building a business or an organization or a for impact, doesn't matter what business you're in, you uncover different areas of that [00:10:10] need, um, different challenges that need to be solved. 

[00:10:13] louise tran: So OzHarvest Ventures came about because of 2, 2, 2, 2 key reasons. [00:10:20] Ahart being a for impact organization, we rely on the philanthropic giving, the donations, um, as any charity would. Um, and the need to [00:10:30] diversify our income, uh, through a new and innovative model, through social business, through social enterprise, was something that we always carried, uh, [00:10:40] within the Oz Harvest. 

[00:10:41] louise tran: DNA, you know, we've started programs that generate different revenue streams and the OzHarvest Ventures model was just a continuation [00:10:50] of that and an evolution of that. Um, and the other, uh, part to the equation is that. The food waste challenge exists [00:11:00] from farm to fork. So what we were seeing is, um, warehouse harvest, can't rescue food, say from primary production, from [00:11:10] farms, from, um, various sources of the supply chain. 

[00:11:13] louise tran: There was an opportunity there for OzHarvest Ventures to potentially find new and innovative [00:11:20] ways to work directly with farmers to transform or. Uh, the surplus food or the food that can't be sold, um, into new [00:11:30] and innovative products. So. You mentioned a couple of things that we've launched in, in the time that we, uh, you know, really launched Aus Harvest [00:11:40] Ventures. 

[00:11:40] louise tran: We've launched a range of products for good, um, upcycled products using surplus lemons, for example, to make O Lemonade, uh, working [00:11:50] with our farmers, uh, all across Australia to really produce and solve a problem for them. So the problem there was there's a lot of waste and we [00:12:00] wanted to make sure that those farmers also. 

[00:12:02] louise tran: Um, we're paid for that produce, that there's water, there's energy, there's labor, there's all of the things that goes [00:12:10] into growing our food that we need to value and not just reject and waste.  

[00:12:14] dominique: Yeah, I think there's nothing more depressing than hearing, um, about food, uh, that's been produced that's [00:12:20] had to be dumped because it's, it's not pretty enough. 

[00:12:23] dominique: Or there is just a surplus or the market's down or whatever, and it's like. Wow. When they, as you say, when there are people who are going [00:12:30] hungry because they can't, um, afford food, and then we know that the stuff that's just being thrown out, it's um, it doesn't make any sense. Right. Um, so, [00:12:40] um, you mentioned the lemonade. 

[00:12:41] dominique: Um, I went to a restaurant. You guys run on Crown Street. Um, I can't remember what it's called. Ator. Ator. That's the one. Um, [00:12:50] absolutely fantastic experience. Um, for anyone who hasn't been there, I highly suggest you, um, make a booking. Uh, so my understanding is it's, um, [00:13:00] the menu changes all the time 'cause it's based on what you guys can, can rescue. 

[00:13:04] dominique: Uh, the staff are all volunteers. Um, the decor and the tables [00:13:10] and the plates and cups and everything, and the, the cutlery has all been kind of, um, yeah, upcycled or, or um, et cetera. It's just such a buzzy, lovely, [00:13:20] uh, space. And I think what it showed me is that it, you know, it doesn't have to be kind of sack cloth and ashes, right? 

[00:13:25] dominique: When you're doing good, you can really come up with an idea that is, um. [00:13:30] Uh, yeah, with a business mindset. Um, but what are some of the challenges when you're coming up with these ideas? 'cause obviously running any business is, uh, [00:13:40] time consuming. You've gotta invest, you've gotta make sure you've got the right people. 

[00:13:44] dominique: How do you kind of manage, um, you know, those things alongside the kind of the, the doing good, the [00:13:50] purpose, um, aspect.  

[00:13:51] louise tran: Mm. And the repertoire is just a, such a beautiful space. Like, you know, in partnership with Mamo, one of the world's [00:14:00] best chefs, um, it's just such an inviting, warm space where people feel the dignity, they feel the love, they feel all the [00:14:10] goodness oozing from our volunteers and a core team of staff. 

[00:14:14] louise tran: Um, but you know, some of the challenges will, will always be, um, [00:14:20] how to make this. Enterprise or initiative sustainable? Um, I think that's where the social enterprise model is, is, [00:14:30] is a real focus for, for, for me and, and OzHarvest Ventures is the, the, the work of impact. Is going to be there. You know, [00:14:40] there's currently, to date, $36 billion of food goes to waste. 

[00:14:44] louise tran: Um, and 3.4 million households experience hunger in some way, shape or [00:14:50] form in a year. And so the, the work will be there even though we, we don't want to be rescuing food and feeding people in [00:15:00] 20 years, we wanna solve that, but while the work is there to be done, um. The funds are required to continue that work. 

[00:15:08] louise tran: And so sustain [00:15:10] ongoing sustainability is always, I think, a challenge for four purpose organizations. Um, trying to balance people, planet profit. Is [00:15:20] always in consideration. And I think the more and more businesses venture down the path of social enterprise, the better the world will be. 'cause it's not profit at [00:15:30] all costs. 

[00:15:31] louise tran: But I think we can reimagine how to do business. We can reimagine how to create impact through this lens of social [00:15:40] enterprise. Um, we're all consumers. We all have a choice and we've all got. The choice to spend our dollars with either a social [00:15:50] business, a ator, experiencing a dining experience there that then helps feed people, uh, during the day so consumers can, can choose to [00:16:00] do that, can choose to buy an O Lemonade instead of others, and that helps feed someone in need. 

[00:16:06] louise tran: So I. Thinking creatively, thinking differently about [00:16:10] how do we solve some of these challenges that we're trying to solve as an impact led organization. Um, thinking about it differently and with a different lens [00:16:20] really helps us challenge ourselves and, and addresses those, those critical challenges, challenges that we face as an organization. 

[00:16:28] louise tran: Um. [00:16:30] Attracting volunteers and staff who are aligned to our purpose. I don't think, I don't see it as a challenge. In fact, it's such a draw card to have a [00:16:40] purpose that's so, that's so aligned with, with so many people. Um, but the, I think, you know, let's, let's be real. The, the challenge for us [00:16:50] will always be as an, as a purpose led organization. 

[00:16:53] louise tran: Um, there, there are considerations for people to make from a. [00:17:00] Remuneration point of view from a, can we compete with a corporate salaries point of view? Like that, that's a true, um, question for people who want to work for [00:17:10] purpose-led organizations. And I think the way we address that is, you know, we've got really strong values at OzHarvest and OzHarvest Ventures. 

[00:17:19] louise tran: We're connected [00:17:20] by a cause. We nourish and grow our people. We're boldly courageous. We're with gratitude. Our values and the purpose of nourishing our country, I think [00:17:30] really draws people to that. And I think the more and more, as I've been there for, for a while, I see people join because they are so [00:17:40] passionate about that purpose and the values alignment because you know. 

[00:17:46] louise tran: If you're, you're, you're waking up every day spending [00:17:50] however many hours a week at work, uh, what better way than to spend that time than, uh, with people who you, uh, really, uh, [00:18:00] admire and are inspired by? Like I am with my colleagues every single day. I know that sounds really cheesy, but, uh, it's true. And, um, and with a mission that's aligned [00:18:10] with your personal values. 

[00:18:11] louise tran: And I think for me, that is. Why I'm still around,  

[00:18:15] dominique: just from a, just from a sort of practical logistical point of view, is OzHarvest [00:18:20] Ventures and OzHarvest, are they two separate entities? They're run as separate entities?  

[00:18:22] louise tran: Yeah, we've set it up to be a separate entity. Um, and there are, you know, I think many organizations that choose to [00:18:30] do, to do that or, uh, experimenting with this as a new way of, of, um, establishing social business. 

[00:18:37] louise tran: As a spinoff of a, [00:18:40] a more established charity. So we have decided to do it as a separate entity governed by a separate board. And that board, that board makeup is really critical as [00:18:50] well. It's like finding the right skills, finding the right guidance, and, um, advisory board that suits the needs of, it's, it's a startup. 

[00:18:59] louise tran: Mm-hmm. [00:19:00] Um, while it's got the. The name Aus Harvest in it. Um, we still operate it like a, like a startup. We want to be agile. We wanna have that growth [00:19:10] mindset. We are, um, there's so many opportunities out there and I think one of the challenges is where  

[00:19:17] dominique: Picking and choosing. Yeah, picking and choosing. Yeah, because you could just. 

[00:19:19] dominique: [00:19:20] Go. You could do everything  

[00:19:21] louise tran: and I want to do everything. Yeah. And Ronnie would love to do everything and we would love to, to solve all the challenges in the food system, but yeah. Yeah, that's one challenge.  

[00:19:29] dominique: It [00:19:30] sounds like a lot of it should be like quite good fun. You got to use your creative side and come up with ideas. 

[00:19:35] dominique: I'm sure a lot of them are rejected, just like that's a little bit too far. But um, it sounds like it's [00:19:40] keeps things interesting. Right?  

[00:19:41] louise tran: Oh, absolutely. I think there's never been a day where it, I feel like it's Groundhog Day. You know, I will do [00:19:50] everything from hustling for lemons, uh, chatting to farmers, um, all the way through to receipting and accounting, through to, uh, [00:20:00] imagining what we could do together through. 

[00:20:02] louise tran: Incredible collaborations like We Work as an example, one of the products we release is called The Conscious Drink, [00:20:10] and it's a collaboration, a true beautiful collaboration with uh, Ben Tyler, who is a social entrepreneur that runs Kakadu Kitchen. And you know, [00:20:20] we just found this beautiful synergy where. 

[00:20:22] louise tran: Ben was creating these beautiful non-alcoholic beverages with his business partner, Tim Triggs, and we had all [00:20:30] of this surplus berries on our hands, and so we said, let's just collaborate and create a product that's meaningful, intentional, gives back to First Nations [00:20:40] communities through sourcing of ethical bush food, and then solves a waste problem from our side. 

[00:20:45] louise tran: And so we release that together from an idea. To a product on shelves [00:20:50] and at the Opera House within 12 weeks, and we were like, oh, wow. That's what happens when you can collaborate and that a bit find mission alignment,  

[00:20:57] dominique: crazy timeline. But yeah, as you say, it's like. [00:21:00] Uh, I think when you collaborate for purpose, you know, you can kind of get a lot done 'cause everyone's just Yeah. 

[00:21:06] dominique: Kind of feeling up, feeling up about it. So, um, talk to me about the global impact of OzHarvest specifically, or, or what you guys are doing. How are you kind of taking the message, um, to the rest of the world? Are you, do you have plans to, or have you already opened in other countries?  

[00:21:23] louise tran: It's been so organic, um, in the sense that. 

[00:21:28] louise tran: The OzHarvest model is purely, you know, at its simplest, obviously it's very logistical and operationally complex, but at its simplest is where is the food waste occurring and where is there the need? And the OzHarvest or the Global Harvest model is about connecting those two. Um. About 10 years ago or so, or maybe a little bit more, we partnered with the United Nations who were launching their education, the global education campaign around food waste and its impact on the environment because, anyway, I can rattle off statistics, but, you know, too much food goes to waste and, and you know, the emissions that is released from food waste in landfill is more harmful than, than carbon emissions that emits methane. 

[00:22:17] louise tran: And so with, with. With that partnership, we did a bit of work, um, randomly in Peru and in in Thailand, uh, at some of the global COP  conferences. And it started to generate this global awareness about what Ahart was doing in Australia. So from there we just started getting a lot of interest from all over the world around, what's this food charity in Australia? 

[00:22:43] louise tran: Bottom end of the world doing to reduce food waste. And I think over the last decade we have had champions and local leaders, uh, bringing to life the OzHarvest model, South Africa, uh, in Japan, in New Zealand, in the uk. Um, and a few years ago I thought, let's why not just launch it in Vietnam as well? So. 

[00:23:09] louise tran: Just from my personal belief and passion and commitment, um, and just knowing that it's a solution that works. Uh, we've also launched in Vietnam, so the impact is spreading. It's organic. It's um, you know, there's no plan for world domination, but I think where that, where the problem exists and where there are values aligned, passionate people dedicated to solving it, um, it's just come to life very organically in these countries. 

[00:23:36] dominique: Yeah. And it makes sense to where. Where relevant and you [00:23:40] know, to duplicate stuff. Not to sort of try and reinvent the wheel or start from scratch, et cetera, but I'm guessing to really, you know, learn from local. Players and things like that about what's gonna work in, in different, um, countries and regions, right? 

[00:23:52] louise tran: Yeah, absolutely. And there's a lot of knowledge sharing, like what works in Australia doesn't work in Vietnam, for [00:24:00] example. I can speak from experience our, our. Model in Vietnam logistically is very different to you can imagine the a hundred million population [00:24:10] in an, in Vietnam. Um, and the transport routes is very different to what we have here in Australia. 

[00:24:16] louise tran: Um, however, the, the crux of it and the core of it is [00:24:20] still making sure that good food doesn't go to waste and feeds the community in need.  

[00:24:25] dominique: So you keep that, those basic as the basic values and the basic remit. So what does the future hold for OzHarvest Ventures? Where are you, where would you like to take it? 

[00:24:36] louise tran: The future holds so many possibilities.  Um, essentially if we can work within the food system solving or creating, what, what I'm [00:24:50] starting to see is this interesting model. Um. Coming up where we've got, we've got produce, we've got regions where we're growing food that's not making it to people. It's not making it, it's not, it's, it's getting wasted. 

[00:25:03] louise tran: Um, and we've, we've started to uncover this model where there's some really incredible local manufacturing. Um, and if we can be almost a go to market brand or partner, because everyone has their role to play.  Ahart Ventures will not create a farm, but we can work with farmers. We're not gonna open a manufacturing facility, but there are manufacturing facilities here in these regional communities. 

[00:25:29] louise tran: And if we can connect those dots and then bring a product to life that consumers love, um, that, you know, builds this, this education and awareness and creates this long-term impact, um, I see that. We can really disrupt the food and beverage sector in that sense. Um, as well as, you know, again, through the social enterprise model, uh, enabling OzHarvest to just continue to feed more people in need, rescue more food. 

[00:25:57] louise tran: We've just delivered our 300000000th meal to Australians in need. Um, and that work will continue alongside the education programs. Uh, the food programs that we run in schools called Feast. Um, and I think that's the impactful work that OzHarvest needs to continue, um, because those challenges still exist. 

[00:26:18] louise tran: Um, but for OzHarvest Ventures, it, um, yeah, we'd like to see ourselves as disruptors in this space.  

[00:26:25] dominique: Well, I look forward to seeing what happens next. Thank you so much for joining me in the studio. Louise. It's been an absolute delight to have everyone change. Love's company.  

[00:26:33] louise tran: Thanks for having me.