Le Refettorio Paris

What Le Refettorio Paris does

Le Refettorio Paris is a non-profit community kitchen located in the crypt of the Church of La Madeleine at Place de la Madeleine, 75008 Paris, operating since March 2018. It was created by Food for Soul — a non-profit founded by chef Massimo Bottura and Lara Gilmore in 2015 — in cooperation with Le Foyer de la Madeleine, a separate social restaurant sharing the same premises. The project's core product is an evening dinner service that transforms approximately 130 kg of surplus food per day into ~100 three-course meals served at table to guests in situations of social vulnerability. The associated Le Foyer de la Madeleine operation runs a parallel lunch service of more than 250 meals daily to elderly people, neighborhood workers, and people in need (subsidized at 1 EUR via Ozanam Madeleine).

The operating model is built on zero-waste cooking and a layered partner ecosystem rather than conventional revenue mechanics. Surplus food is sourced through partnerships with Phenix (food-waste marketplace), Banque Alimentaire (food bank), Carrefour food donations, and Metro wholesale supply. Meal production is delivered by more than 100 rotating volunteer guest chefs — including Alain Ducasse, Yannick Alléno, Pierre Hermé, Dominique Crenn, and Olivier Roellinger — coordinated by co-presidents Jean-François Rial (CEO, Voyageurs du Monde) and Marc(o) Berrebi. The space was designed by artists JR and Prune Nourry with architects Encore Heureux and RF Studio to create a culturally distinctive, dignified dining environment.

Operating budget is funded by a concentrated set of flagship corporate and foundation sponsors — Accor, BNP Paribas Foundation, Nestlé France Foundation, Carrefour Foundation, Salesforce, Kering Group, Voyageurs du Monde, Société Générale/Matmut, and Terre & Fils — plus in-kind contributions from equipment and supply partners (Bernardaud, Chef&Sommelier, Flos, Pavoni, Pentole Agnelli, Felicetti, Cacao Barry, Giblor's). A commercial Zero Waste Cookbook with 37 recipes is sold via maisoncf.fr as an ancillary product. The organization has 1–10 employees, does not charge beneficiaries for evening meals, and has no disclosed revenue, funding rounds, or financial statements in the source material.

Name

Le Refettorio Paris

Legal name

Food For Soul

Website

https://refettorioparis.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Le Refettorio Paris is a non-profit community kitchen in the crypt of La Madeleine, Paris, founded 2018 by Food for Soul. It transforms ~130 kg of surplus food daily into ~100 three-course evening meals served to people in social vulnerability, delivered by 100+ volunteer guest chefs and funded by major French corporate and foundation sponsors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Kitchen / Social Restaurant Services

NAICS

Full-Service Restaurants (722511), Special Food Services (7223)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Chef’s Table & Tasting Menu Restaurants (THAFACAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

In-House Cafeteria Operations & Meal Preparation (EDAEAEAA)

Keywords

• Community kitchen services
• Food waste recovery
• Surplus food redistribution
• Zero waste cooking
• Social dining services

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Le Refettorio Paris operates a community kitchen dinner service in the crypt of the Church of La Madeleine that transforms approximately 130 kg of surplus food ingredients per day into healthy three-course meals served free of charge to people in situations of social vulnerability. The kitchen is staffed by volunteer guest chefs from around the world invited by chef Massimo Bottura, with meals served at table by a dedicated volunteer team. The organization also distributes a Zero Waste Cookbook featuring 37 recipes that demonstrate how imperfect ingredients can be transformed into dignified meals.

Product overview

Le Refettorio Paris is a cultural community kitchen project, not a traditional technology product. Its core offering is a dinner service that transforms surplus food ingredients into three-course meals served to guests in social vulnerability situations. The organization also offers a zero waste cookbook containing 37 recipes. The kitchen engages guest chefs from around the world who volunteer to prepare meals, and the space is enhanced through artistic installations by internationally recognized artists.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Community Kitchen Dinner Service A welcoming dinnertime food service that transforms surplus food ingredients into healthy three-course meals, targeting 100 meals per day using approximately 130 kg of recovered food, for people in situations of social vulnerability in Paris. Meals are prepared by volunteer guest chefs and served at table by a dedicated volunteer team.
• Zero Waste Cookbook A cookbook featuring 37 inspiring zero-waste recipes that demonstrate the art of transforming imperfect ingredients into nourishment with dignity, empathy and love, symbolizing the conviviality and compassion shared in the Refettorio kitchen.

Quantifiable outcome

• 100 meals served per day using 130 kg of recovered food
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Food for SoulcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNon-profit organization founded by chef Massimo Bottura and Lara Gilmore that conceived the Refettorio Paris concept. Coordinates the global network of Refettorio projects and invites guest chefs to volunteer.
• BernardaudcoreTechnology or IntegrationPremium French porcelain manufacturer providing tableware for the Refettorio.
• Chef&SommeliercoreTechnology or IntegrationProfessional tableware and glassware partner for the kitchen.
• FloscoreTechnology or IntegrationPremium lighting manufacturer contributing to the atmospheric design of the space.
• PhenixcoreTechnology or IntegrationFood waste reduction technology company supporting surplus food recovery operations.
• Banque AlimentairecoreTechnology or IntegrationFood bank providing recovered food surplus for meal preparation.
• MetrocoreTechnology or IntegrationFood wholesale distributor providing supplies for the kitchen.
• JR and Prune NourrycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternationally known French artists who created installations specifically for Refettorio Paris and led the artistic team for the transformation of the space.
• Nicola Delon (Encore Heureux) and Ramy Fischler (RF Studio)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerArchitecture firm Encore Heureux and design agency RF Studio worked on the renovation of the Foyer de la Madeleine, designing a warm environment using recycled materials.
• Laure Dezeuze (Studio Bloomer)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerArchitect-scenographer and founder of Studio Bloomer who was part of the renovation team.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Restos du Coeur: France's largest food charity distributing meals and groceries to people in poverty; comparable social-welfare feeding mission and French footprint, but operates large-scale distribution rather than dine-in cultural dining.
• Caritas Paris: French Catholic charitable network running social-services and food aid including through parish venues; comparable on parish-based community support in France, but broader welfare scope rather than curated sit-down dining.

Direct peers

• Le Foyer de la Madeleine: The on-site social restaurant at La Madeleine that runs the lunch service next to the Refettorio evening service; they share the same kitchen, beneficiary catchment, and operational partnership, functioning as a complementary peer rather than an external peer.
• Refettorio Ambrosiano: The original Food for Soul community kitchen in Milan (2015), operating the same three-course surplus-meal, guest-chef, cultural-space concept that Paris was modeled on; the most structurally comparable Refettorio sibling.
• Food for Soul: The non-profit founded by chef Massimo Bottura and Lara Gilmore that operates the global Refettorio network (Ambrosiano, Paris, Modena, and others) using the same surplus-food-to-community-meal model; it is Refettorio Paris's parent and the most directly comparable organization operationally and strategically.

Emerging players

• REfOOD Portugal: Portuguese volunteer-led community-kitchen network rescuing surplus food to serve cooked meals to those in need; structurally similar community-kitchen, volunteer-chef model to Refettorio Paris, though region-specific.
• Too Good To Go: Surplus-meal marketplace connecting restaurants to consumers; shares the waste-recovery and surplus-meal concept but operates as a commercial marketplace rather than a community kitchen.
• OzHarvest: Australia's leading food-rescue charity, redistributing surplus food to vulnerable communities and restaurants; comparable mission (food waste + social inclusion) though operating at far larger scale and with broader logistics.

Others

• Phenix: European food-waste tech company and named partner of Refettorio Paris that connects retailers to recipients of surplus food; comparable on the surplus-recovery input chain, though it is a technology/operator rather than a community dining service.

Broad incumbents

• Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation: Major institutional caterer's CSR arm running community-feeding programs globally; overlaps with Refettorio on feeding vulnerable populations through food service, but operates at much larger institutional scale and via traditional cafeteria models.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/refettorio-paris

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 Le Refettorio Paris