What Fareshare Cymru does

FareShare Cymru is a registered Welsh charity founded in 2011 that operates a surplus food redistribution service from a central warehouse in Cardiff (Unit S5, Capital Business Park). It collects in-date surplus food from food producers, manufacturers, and retailers across Wales and redistributes it free of charge to charities, schools, homeless hostels, refuges, and community groups that turn the food into meals for people facing food insecurity. In the 2025-2026 operating year the organization rescued 1,120 tonnes of surplus food from its Cardiff warehouse and served 286 member organizations, enabling the creation of 2,996,966 meals across Welsh communities. Operations are powered by a combination of 11-50 paid staff, 131 active volunteers on site, and a wider pool of 234 volunteers who contributed over 13,700 hours in the prior year.

The core technology is a food redistribution logistics and warehouse operations platform: collection from food donors, sorting and packing at the Cardiff warehouse, and direct delivery to member organizations, supplemented by the FareShare Go service for smaller recipients and pop-up kitchens at member sites. The organization runs the Welsh Government-funded Surplus with Purpose Cymru Fund, which covers transport, staffing, and packaging costs so that Welsh producers can donate surplus at no cost to themselves, and partners with the University of Wales Trinity St David (UWTSD) and Cegin Hedyn café to extend delivery into West Wales (Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion). Adjacent programmes include the Big Bocs Bwyd school food access project, FareBoost Cymru (a 12-week employability programme), and Redistribution Kitchen Wales, which converts surplus into cooked meals at venues like Cardiff and Vale College.

FareShare Cymru is a non-profit, privately held entity (no parent company, no public ticker) governed by a Board of Trustees under CEO Sarah Germain. It is part of the broader UK FareShare network. Revenue is not publicly disclosed; the funding mix comprises Welsh Government grants (Surplus with Purpose Cymru Fund, Landfill Disposals Tax Community Scheme co-funding), corporate donations and volunteer partnerships (Admiral, Briggs Equipment, OV Group), individual giving, and donations from food producers (Puffin Produce, Lewis Pies, South Caernarfon Creameries, 2 Sisters Food Group, Banc Organics, Zorba Delicacies, Dovebrook Kitchen, Tovali Squash). Marketing is community-led, relying on the fareshare.cymru website, email newsletter, organic social, news content, corporate volunteer days, and community events across South and West Wales.

Name

Fareshare Cymru

Legal name

FareShare Cymru

Website

https://fareshare.cymru

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

FareShare Cymru is a Welsh registered charity that redistributes surplus food from food producers to charities, schools, and community groups across Wales from its Cardiff warehouse, serving 286 member organizations and creating nearly 3 million meals annually.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Food Redistribution and Anti-Food-Poverty Charity Services

akta.pro primary industry

Donation Pickup & Reuse Hauling (HSAKALAI)

Keywords

• Surplus food redistribution
• Food waste reduction
• Charity food distribution
• Community food support
• Employability programmes

Headquarters

HQ city

Cardiff

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations: Charitable donations from individuals, corporate partners, and trusts to support operations and food redistribution activities
2. Government Funding: Welsh Government funding through Surplus with Purpose Cymru Fund to cover transport, staffing and packaging costs for food redistribution

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

FareShare Cymru collects high-quality, in-date surplus food from the food industry at its Cardiff warehouse and redistributes it free of charge to charities, schools, and community groups across Wales. It complements this redistribution service with the Welsh Government-funded Surplus with Purpose Cymru Fund that covers donor costs, a direct delivery service (FareShare Go), a 12-week employability programme (FareBoost Cymru), and a Community Food Provision Map.

Product overview

FareShare Cymru is a single-purpose charity operating a surplus food redistribution service from its Cardiff warehouse. The core offering collects surplus food from the food industry and distributes it to over 280 member charities and community groups across Wales. Key programmes include the Surplus with Purpose Cymru Fund (which subsidises donation costs for Welsh producers), FareShare Go (direct delivery service), FareBoost Cymru (employment support programme), and Redistribution Kitchen Wales (cooking meals from surplus food). The organisation also maintains a Community Food Provision Map for Wales.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Surplus with Purpose Cymru Fund: A Welsh Government-funded initiative that covers transport, staffing and packaging costs for food businesses to donate surplus food, making it free for Welsh producers to donate.
• FareShare Go
• FareBoost Cymru

Products and services

• FareShare Cymru Surplus Food Redistribution Core service that collects high-quality, in-date surplus food from the food industry at the Cardiff warehouse and redistributes it free of charge to charities, schools, children's clubs, homeless hostels, and refuges across Wales. During 2025-2026, 1,120 tonnes of surplus food were rescued and 2,996,966 meals created for 286 member organisations.
• Surplus with Purpose Cymru Fund Welsh Government-funded initiative that covers transport, staffing, and packaging costs for Welsh food producers and manufacturers donating surplus food, making it completely free for Welsh producers to donate surplus produce to FareShare Cymru for redistribution to charities and community organisations.
• FareShare Go Direct delivery service for smaller charities and community groups to receive surplus food from FareShare Cymru's warehouse operations, providing a streamlined route for smaller organisations to access redistributed food.
• FareBoost Cymru 12-week programme by FareShare Cymru that supports people across Cardiff who are not currently working, studying, or in training, using food redistribution activities to build employability skills and experience.
• Redistribution Kitchen Wales (RKW) Project where surplus food is made into meals at venues such as Cardiff and Vale College, turning redistributed food into cooked meals for communities.
• Community Food Provision Map Mapping tool showing community food provision locations across Wales, helping identify where food support is available to people facing food insecurity.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2,996,966 meals created in 2025-2026
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers20 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

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• University of Wales Trinity St David (UWTSD)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 November 2022Partnership allows FareShare Cymru to use car parking facility to store transporting vans, enabling expansion into West Wales (Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion). Part-funded by Welsh Government's Landfill Disposals Tax Community Scheme.
• Cegin HedyncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 November 2022Pay-as-you-feel café in Carmarthen acting as ambassador for FareShare Cymru. Working with local volunteers to support charities and community groups across West Wales.
• Puffin ProducecoreOthersWelsh produce company participating in Surplus with Purpose Cymru Fund. National Account Manager Matthew Thomas has spoken about the initiative covering harvesting and labour costs for donating surplus.
• Bremenda Isaf FarmminorOthersWelsh farm where Head Grower Piers Lunt highlighted the Surplus with Purpose fund as instrumental in diverting surplus from waste.
• Tovali SquashminorOthersFamily-run squash business in Carmarthen operating since 1937. Regularly donates product to FareShare Cymru as part of quarterly giving.
• Community Volunteers Wales (CVW)coreOthersPartner charity founded March 2020 providing surplus food to community pantry. Operates The Pantri with 560+ members, receiving weekly surplus food deliveries from FareShare Cymru.
• OV GroupminorOthersDonated 10,000 Easter eggs to FareShare Cymru members. Managing Director Cherry Blumberg cited company values of caring for communities.
• Lewis PiescoreOthersFamily-owned Welsh food manufacturer since 1936. Donating surplus items including chicken tikka pasties to FareShare Cymru network.
• Dovebrook KitchenminorOthersPlant-based family-owned food delivery company. Donated over 100kg of high-quality frozen meals to FareShare Cymru.
• Banc OrganicsminorOthersCommunity-supported food scheme growing organic produce in Carmarthenshire. Donated over 165kg of surplus organic brussels sprout sticks via Surplus with Purpose Cymru Fund.
• AdmiralminorOthersInsurance company with IT team volunteering at FareShare Cymru. Staff policy allows 2 days volunteering per year.
• Briggs EquipmentminorOthersCommunity-focused company supporting charitable organisations. Made £700 donation and corporate volunteering at FareShare Cymru warehouse.
• Paviland FarmminorOthersTraditional family farm on Gower using Surplus with Purpose Fund to donate 1,200 pumpkins.
• 2 Sisters Food GroupminorOthersFood industry partner donating surplus to FareShare Cymru.
• South Caernarfon Creameries (SCC)minorOthersWales' oldest dairy donating cheese to FareShare Cymru since October 2021, providing protein for community members.
• Zorba DelicaciesminorOthersDonated over two and a half tonnes of chilled soup and dips to FareShare Cymru.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• WRAP: UK charity working on sustainability, with a major food waste reduction programme (including the Courtauld Commitment and work with retailers). Operates at the policy and corporate-collaboration layer that funds and legitimises charities like FareShare Cymru.

Emerging players

• Olio: UK-founded food-sharing app redistributing surplus food between households and businesses. A more consumer-facing, app-driven peer addressing the same underlying surplus-to-need problem.
• Hubbub Foundation: UK environmental charity running campaigns on food waste, reuse, and sustainable behaviour. Comparable on mission and UK funder ecosystem, though focused more on campaign delivery than direct warehouse redistribution.
• Neighbourly: UK surplus food and volunteer platform connecting businesses to charities and community causes. Operates a tech-enabled version of the matching function FareShare Cymru performs manually, and is both a peer and a potential partner/disruptor.

Direct peers

• City Harvest: London-based surplus food redistribution charity collecting from food businesses and delivering to frontline charities. Operates a near-identical logistics and member-organisation model to FareShare Cymru, differing mainly by geography.
• Feedback Global: UK and global charity focused on reducing food waste through redistribution, campaigning, and policy work. Operates surplus food projects comparable to FareShare Cymru and shares the food-system-impact framing.
• The Trussell Trust: Operates the largest UK network of food banks, addressing food poverty and food insecurity through a parallel — though donation-pantry rather than warehouse-redistribution — model. Highly comparable mission, beneficiary base, and UK charitable funding environment.
• The Bread and Butter Thing: UK charity redistributing surplus food via membership-based community supermarkets. Comparable model of redirecting surplus food to low-income communities, though with a direct-to-consumer twist versus FareShare Cymru's charity-member model.
• FareShare UK: The UK-wide parent charity network of which FareShare Cymru is the Welsh regional arm. Operates the same surplus food redistribution model at national scale, making it the closest direct peer and benchmark for operating model, member structure, and government funding.
• Plan Zheroes: London-based surplus food platform connecting food businesses with local charities. Highly comparable operating model (donor-charity matching) and beneficiary base, with overlapping donor-pool competition for UK food industry surplus.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/faresharecymru

Compliance3 records

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 Fareshare Cymru