What FoodCycle does

FoodCycle is a UK-registered charity (no. 1134423) and company limited by guarantee (no. 7101349) founded in 2009, headquartered in London. The organisation runs free community meals made from surplus food across 90 locations in England and Wales, serving approximately 3,500 guests each week. Meals are prepared and served entirely by volunteers — FoodCycle has engaged 8,266 volunteers donating 180,746 hours, with 3,000+ active weekly — and rescued 349 tonnes of food from waste in the most recent reporting period. The service is free, with no booking required, and explicitly targets people facing food poverty and social isolation, including older people, refugees and asylum seekers, homeless individuals, those affected by mental ill health, and those on tight budgets.

The underlying platform is conventional charity-sector technology: a volunteer management and booking system accessible via volunteer.foodcycle.org.uk, a Salesforce CRM, Stripe/PayPal/Apple Pay donation processing, JustGiving for fundraising campaigns, WooCommerce for the online shop, Dot Digital for email, Eventbrite for events, GA4 for web analytics, and SMS via Text Local. FoodCycle has no disclosed proprietary technology, patents, or AI/ML capabilities. Product surface extends beyond the core Community Meals to include Schools Community Meals, corporate Food Invention Challenges (team-building cooking events in London and Birmingham), One Lottery (a £1 weekly lottery yielding 50p per ticket), challenge events (marathons, cycling, treks), a free Will-writing service via Farewill, and a recipes resource library.

The business model is a diversified charity income stack: individual donations (including matched Big Give Christmas Challenge), trust and foundation grants (Comic Relief, Garfield Weston, Dulverton, Julia Rausing, Rothschild, National Lottery Community Fund, and 10+ others), corporate partnerships and pro-bono support, legacy gifts, lottery income, and challenge-event fundraising. Pricing is entirely free at point of use for guests; the charity monetises only through fundraising channels. Go-to-market is community-led (volunteer referrals and word-of-mouth) supplemented by event-driven (challenge events, corporate challenges) and direct-to-consumer (website postcode search) motions. Leadership transitioned in April 2026 with Mark Game succeeding long-tenured CEO Sophie Tebbetts.

Name

FoodCycle

Legal name

FoodCycle

Website

https://foodcycle.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

FoodCycle is a UK charity that runs free community meals made from surplus food at 90 locations across England and Wales, serving ~3,500 guests weekly through 8,000+ volunteers and a diversified fundraising model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Charitable Community Dining Services

NAICS

Community Food Services (62421), Community Food Services (624210)

akta.pro primary industry

Food Assistance & Food Banks (BPAGAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Specialty & Dietary Catering (Vegan, Kosher, Halal, Allergy-Friendly) (HSACAGAH), Foodservice & Hospitality Waste Services (Non-hazardous, Back-of-house) (EUAIAGAE)

Keywords

• Community dining programs
• Surplus food redistribution
• Volunteer meal services
• Food poverty charity
• Social isolation support

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: FoodCycle receives donations from individuals through its website, one-time gifts, and regular monthly contributions. Donors can contribute to specific campaigns such as the Big Give Christmas Challenge which matches donations pound-for-pound during specific campaign periods.
2. One Lottery: FoodCycle partners with One Lottery, a weekly lottery where tickets cost £1 per week. The charity receives 50p from every ticket sold, providing a regular sustainable income stream. Players must be 18+ and located in Great Britain.
3. Trust and Foundation Grants: FoodCycle receives funding from grant-making trusts and foundations including Comic Relief, The Dulverton Trust, Garfield Weston Foundation, National Lottery Community Fund, and others. These provide transformative funding for the charity's operations.
4. Corporate Partnerships: FoodCycle engages corporate partners through team cooking challenges, charity of the year partnerships, corporate volunteering, and pro-bono support. The charity has received support from companies for Data for Good days, skills-sharing, and volunteer training.
5. Legacy Gifts: FoodCycle receives bequests through supporters' Wills, providing long-term sustainable funding. The charity partners with Farewill to offer free Will writing services to supporters who may leave a gift to FoodCycle.
6. Challenge Events: FoodCycle receives fundraising income from participants taking on challenge events including marathons, running events, cycling challenges, and trekking adventures. Charity place runners commit to minimum fundraising targets.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

FoodCycle serves free, wholesome three-course vegetarian community meals made from surplus food that would otherwise go to waste, prepared and hosted by volunteers at 90 locations across England and Wales. Meals are open to everyone with no booking required, addressing food poverty, social isolation, mental health, and food waste in a single programme. Supporting services include a Schools Community Meals programme, a corporate team-building cooking challenge, a weekly fundraising lottery, challenge events, and corporate partnership packages.

Product overview

FoodCycle is a national UK charity offering community dining programs centered on free meals made from surplus food. The core offering is the Community Meals program, supported by the Volunteer Portal platform for managing volunteer activities. Additional offerings include Schools Community Meals, the Food Invention Challenge corporate team-building experience, One Lottery for fundraising, Challenge Events (marathons, treks, cycling), and a Recipes resource library. The organization operates across 90+ locations in England and Wales, with operations coordinated through volunteer management systems and supported by corporate partnerships.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Community Meals Free, wholesome three-course vegetarian community meals made from surplus food, prepared and hosted by volunteers at 90 locations across England and Wales. Open to everyone with no booking required, designed to address food poverty and social isolation simultaneously.
• Schools Community Meals Community dining programmes established in partnership with schools to provide free meals and social connection to students, families and local communities, with active expansion in the North of England.
• Food Invention Challenge Corporate team-building cooking experience in which teams cook three-course meals from surplus food at professional kitchen venues, with meals donated to local community organisations including Ace of Clubs in Clapham.
• FoodCycle One Lottery Weekly fundraising lottery operated in partnership with One Lottery; tickets cost £1 per week with 50p going to FoodCycle, providing a regular sustainable income stream. Players must be 18+ and located in Great Britain.
• Corporate Partnerships Programme Corporate engagement opportunities including charity of the year partnerships, team cooking challenges, corporate volunteering days, pro-bono support and fundraising programmes designed to help businesses meet sustainability, B Corp and CSR goals.
• Challenge Events Fundraising challenge events including marathons, half marathons, 10K runs, cycling events, and trekking challenges in the UK and abroad, where participants commit to minimum fundraising targets in support of FoodCycle.

Quantifiable outcome

• 349 tonnes of food saved from going to waste
• +8 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration11 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.

• Turner DuckworthmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPro bono brand refresh support from Turner Duckworth, a design agency. They updated FoodCycle's logo, colours, fonts, and created cheerful characters to convey positivity and warmth of community meals.
• FarewillcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership with Farewill, the UK's best-rated Will provider, offering FoodCycle supporters the chance to write a 'simple' free Will. Many supporters choose to leave a legacy gift to FoodCycle when using this service.
• One LotterycoreGTM or Marketing PartnerWeekly lottery partnership where tickets cost £1 per week. FoodCycle receives 50p from every ticket sold, providing regular sustainable funding. Players can win cash prizes up to £25,000.
• British Nutrition FoundationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProduced the 'Your Place at the Table' research report in partnership with FoodCycle, investigating the impact of community dining on health and environmental outcomes.
• Lewisham LocalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFoodCycle Lewisham project is founded by and managed in partnership with Lewisham Local, a charity that supports people to give and get involved in their local community.
• Mission Kitchen, Nine ElmsminorOthersVenue partner for corporate Food Invention Challenges in London.
• Kitchen by Liquid, New StreetminorOthersVenue partner for corporate Food Invention Challenges in Birmingham.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Olio: UK food-sharing app enabling neighbours and businesses to share surplus food. Comparable in tackling food waste and food access at community level, but technology-led rather than venue-based.
• Hubbub: UK environmental charity running food waste and community eating initiatives including the Community Fridge network. Comparable in community-led food waste reduction in the UK.
• Plan Zheroes: UK food redistribution platform connecting businesses with surplus food to local charities. Comparable UK focus on surplus food rescue, though operating as a tech-enabled connector rather than direct meal service.

Direct peers

• City Harvest: London food rescue charity redistributing surplus food to local organisations serving people in need. Directly comparable mission of food waste reduction and hunger relief in the UK.
• The Felix Project: London-based food redistribution charity rescuing surplus food for charities and schools. Comparable UK charity model focused on surplus food rescue for vulnerable communities.
• The Bread and Butter Thing: UK food redistribution charity founded by FoodCycle's new CEO Mark Game, focused on affordable food access via community hubs. Directly comparable in mission (food poverty), community-led model, and UK geography.
• FareShare: UK's largest food redistribution charity, rescuing surplus food for frontline organisations. Comparable as a UK charity addressing food waste and food poverty through surplus food rescue.

Broad incumbents

• The Trussell Trust: UK's largest food bank network, providing emergency food parcels. Comparable as a leading UK anti-food-poverty charity, but operates a parcel-based model rather than communal dining.
• Too Good To Go: European surplus-meal marketplace connecting consumers to restaurants and retailers with unsold food. Comparable in food waste reduction mission and UK presence, but commercial rather than charitable.
• Company Shop / Community Shop: Social supermarket chain selling surplus food at discounted prices, with Community Shop providing free membership to those in need. Comparable in UK surplus food redistribution and food poverty alleviation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/foodcycle
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@foodcyclemeals/featured
• Facebookfacebook.com/foodcycle
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/foodcycle
• Instagraminstagram.com/foodcyclehq
• TikToktiktok.com/@foodcyclehq

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about FoodCycle