Felix Project partners with Deliveroo to open community kitchen

London-based food redistribution charity the Felix Project has partnered with Deliveroo to launch a community kitchen in west London.

The Felix Bakes with Deliveroo kitchen aims to produce more than 2,000 meals a week, ranging from banana bread to beetroot brownies, all made from 200kg of surplus produce.

These will then be distributed by the Felix Project to food banks, community centres, shelters and primary schools across London.

Deliveroo will provide the kitchen space rent-free for a year, as well as a year’s supply of cooking oil. The food delivery platform will also contribute an additional £25,000 towards project costs.

Meanwhile, Co-op, Deliveroo’s long-standing grocery partner, will donate 6,000kg of bakery supplies over the next 12 months.

The community kitchen is taking over one of Deliveroo’s deliver-only virtual kitchen units, normally open to local restaurants, which has been fitted out with AutoDose and Quintex equipment.

Eleanor Garnier, senior policy advisor from Deliveroo, said: “The partnership links to one of Deliveroo’s six sustainability pillars of action, to tackle food insecurity in local communities by establishing the right partnerships and taking direct action where possible. Launching this community kitchen is a key priority for us in 2025.”

Nick Kerle, head of production at the Felix Project, added: “This is a really exciting and innovative partnership. At Felix we are always trying to find new ways to reduce food waste. During the UK harvest season, more food is available. In the past, limited capacity has meant we have had to turn down seasonal gluts of produce, but having the Felix Bakes kitchen will mean we can take more produce and turn it into food we know people will want and enjoy.”

The partnership comes after the Felix Project launched a summer campaign to combat the fact that almost two thirds (64%) of teachers in London are concerned at least one child in their class will experience hunger during the summer holidays.

The charity was launched in 2016 and in 2024 it saved almost 16,000 tonnes of food from going to waste. It is currently training its first cohort of commis chef apprentices, in partnership with homelessness charity Beam and apprenticeship provider Umbrella Training, to help young people “from complicated backgrounds” into employment.