The Defence Force and the Department of Corrections are going grocery shopping together, cutting hundreds of thousands of dollars off their food bill by buying bulk food from the same supplier.
The two agencies spend more than $20 million each year between them on ingredients such as flour, milk and eggs.
Lieutenant Commander Tim Oliver says they have a lot of food requirements in common and their new joint contract with the Defence supplier, Bidvest, will help get better value for money.
He says the food will be of betetr quality than before, but the departments have different menus so prisoners and defence force personnel will not be fed the same meals.
Nor will the contract affect soldiers in field, who get ration packs from a different supplier.
The Government is encouraging departments to establish purchasing syndicates to help public funds go further.
