Drop off your excess produce: Supporting Adelaide's food relief network

Got more tomatoes ripening than you can keep up with? A mandarin tree dropping fruit faster than you can eat? If you'd like to share your excess produce, you can drop it off at food relief organisations across Adelaide.

Many people end up with excess backyard produce, whether it's a productive veggie patch, a laden fruit tree, or simply buying too much. While Fruit Share Adelaide coordinates harvests from registered trees, not everyone can wait for a scheduled pick-up. Direct drop-offs offer another option.

Food relief organisations accepting fresh produce

Several organisations across Adelaide accept donations of fresh fruit and vegetables from community members. These groups provide meals and produce to people experiencing food insecurity. Your excess produce helps them provide fresh, nutritious food to their communities.

Here is a list of organisations currently accepting drop-offs.

The Community Kitchen

Address: Whitmore Square, Adelaide
Drop-off hours: Sundays, 11:30 am
Call ahead? No, drop-offs welcome anytime during hours of operation
Phone: 0405 511 201
Accepted: All fresh fruit and vegetables, citrus, stone fruit, apples and pears, tomatoes, leafy greens, herbs
Quantity limit: 20 kg

Filipinos iConnect SA Inc

Address: 201 Port Rd, Queenstown
Drop-off hours: Tuesdays (except after Monday public holidays or school breaks), 10:30 am - 4 pm
Call ahead? Yes
Phone: 0451 104 770
Accepted: All fresh fruit and vegetables, citrus, stone fruit, apples and pears, tomatoes, leafy greens, herbs
Quantity limit: 50 kg

Food Saver Initiative Inc.

Address: 4 Leith Price Court, West Lakes
Drop-off hours: Monday to Friday, 9 am - 5 pm
Call ahead? Yes, please call first every time
Phone: 0422 931 514
Accepted: All fresh fruit and vegetables, citrus, stone fruit, apples and pears, tomatoes, leafy greens, herbs
Quantity limit: None

Hackham Community Garden (Grow Free Cart, at the Baptist Church)

Address: 88 Penneys Hill Road, Hackham
Drop-off hours: The Grow Free Cart is accessible 24 hours. Building open Monday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday, 9 am - 12 pm
Call ahead? No, drop-offs welcome anytime during hours of operation
Phone: 0424 478 975
Accepted: All fresh fruit and vegetables, citrus, stone fruit, apples and pears, tomatoes, leafy greens, herbs
Quantity limit: Preferably no more than 5 kg of each, to make sure it doesn't go to waste given the size of the Grow Free Cart

The Hut Community Centre

Address: 1 Euston Road, Aldgate SA 5154
Drop-off hours: Monday to Friday, 9 am - 4 pm
Call ahead? Yes, please call first if bringing more than 10 kg
Phone: 8339 4400
Accepted: All fresh fruit and vegetables, citrus, stone fruit, apples and pears, tomatoes, leafy greens, herbs
Quantity limit: None

Lutheran Care

Address: 455 Morphett Road, Oaklands Park
Drop-off hours: Monday to Friday, 9 am - 5 pm
Call ahead? Yes, please call first if bringing more than 10 kg
Phone: 0439 907 462
Accepted: All fresh fruit and vegetables, citrus, stone fruit, apples and pears, tomatoes, leafy greens, herbs
Quantity limit: None

Noarlunga Uniting Care Food Relief Centre

Address: 23 William Road, Christies Beach SA 5165
Drop-off hours: Monday to Saturday, 9 am - 11 am
Call ahead? No, drop-offs welcome anytime during hours of operation
Phone: 8384 3868
Accepted: All fresh fruit and vegetables, citrus, stone fruit, apples and pears, tomatoes, leafy greens, herbs
Quantity limit: None

OzHarvest

Address: 25 Manton Street, Hindmarsh SA 5007
Drop-off hours: Monday to Friday, 9 am - 2:30 pm
Call ahead? No, drop-offs welcome anytime during hours of operation
Phone: 0490 243 647
Accepted: All fresh fruit and vegetables, citrus, stone fruit, apples and pears, tomatoes, herbs
Quantity limit: None

Penny Wise Spending

Address: Shop 6, 201 Main South Road, Morphett Vale
Drop-off hours: Monday to Saturday, 9 am - 5 pm
Call ahead? No, drop-offs welcome anytime during hours of operation
Phone: 0410 891 256
Accepted: All fresh fruit and vegetables, citrus, stone fruit, apples and pears, tomatoes, leafy greens, herbs
Quantity limit: None

SAFE Centre

Address: 8 Fowey Street, Christies Beach
Drop-off hours: Monday, Tuesday, Friday, 9 am - 12 pm
Call ahead? No, drop-offs welcome anytime during hours of operation
Phone: 7200 5611
Accepted: All fresh fruit and vegetables, citrus, stone fruit, apples and pears, tomatoes, leafy greens, herbs
Quantity limit: None

St Vincent de Paul SA (Fred's Van)

Address: 21 Abbotshall Road, Hawthorn
Drop-off hours: Monday to Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm, and Saturday, 10 am - 4 pm
Call ahead? Yes, please call first if bringing more than 10 kg
Phone: 0419 857 966
Accepted: Fresh fruit, citrus, stone fruit, apples and pears
Quantity limit: Probably nothing over 10 kg, but it depends on the product

Before you drop off

A few practical tips to make your donation as useful as possible:

Check drop-off hours and whether you need to call ahead
Only donate fresh, good quality produce that you'd be happy to eat yourself
Respect quantity limits where specified
Follow each organisation's guidelines about what they can and cannot accept
Consider calling ahead if you have large quantities, even if it isn't required

The bigger picture

Every kilogram of fresh produce donated is food that doesn't end up in landfill and reaches someone who needs it. Whether it's a bag of lemons from your backyard tree or excess vegetables from your garden, you're helping reduce food waste while supporting food security in Adelaide.

This complements the work of organisations like Fruit Share Adelaide, which coordinates volunteers to harvest from registered trees. Together, these efforts create different pathways for surplus produce to reach people rather than waste bins.

If you have fruit trees producing more than you can use and would like to explore having volunteers harvest for you, you can register your tree or call 0408 914 139.