More than 1 million kilograms of fruit and vegetables have been donated to the community organisation Foodbank SA in the past year.
The charity supplies 85,000 meals a month, which are distributed by welfare agencies to vulnerable South Australians.
Foodbank SA manager Leigh Royans said it worked across the food chain with support from more than 100 growers and suppliers.
"A healthy diet is even more important to those people that are living on the margins," he said.
"We're lucky to have great support from the market authority and growers to actually make a difference," he said.
Foodbank SA receives retail-quality fresh food but does not baulk at taking less attractive produce.
"We also receive good-quality seconds produce that may not be just right for the retail shelf, and we make use of all."
Mr Royans had wondered if increasing turnover in fresh produce was justified, but said it was as popular as long-life food.
"We've found that we still fall short in the quantity of produce that we need donated so we've reset the benchmark and we're now moving beyond the current 1.1 million kilograms of donated fruit and veg we receive every year to aspirationally try and move to 1.5 million kilograms a year," Mr Royans said.
He said demand for food supplied by Foodbank SA was growing by 5 per cent a year.
"That doesn't sound huge but the cycle's going in the wrong direction, hence our supply needs to grow rather than shrink."
Donation effort backed by industry
Angelo Demasi, from the SA Produce Market, valued food donations from local suppliers at $2.5 million.
He said it spared unsold - or unwanted - food from being wasted.
"It's not only edible product that may be going to landfill, it's also product that would normally go into your greengrocer store, so it's a remarkable achievement by our industry," Mr Demasi said.
Foodbank SA supplied food for about 85,000 meals a month which was distributed by welfare agencies.
