No chef likes to see food go to waste.
Our story
Many members of the team at Open Kitchen started out as chefs in traditional catering and hospitality settings. We worked as bakers, butchers, and in fine dining and Michelin restaurants.
We all trained and built experience. We learned how to make the most of what we had. How to get inventive with specials to stop perfectly good food going into the bin.
But waste and surplus are still huge issues in the food supply chain. And on the flip side, families across the Northwest are skipping meals due to continued food price increases.
It was only when we each joined Open Kitchen that we realised the full extent of these problems.
We collaborate with communities and community groups across Greater Manchester to build solutions. Every week, we intercept and redistribute essential items to local pantries and grocer schemes. We fund community growing schemes and food education to support long-term solutions. And our catering is created by chefs from scratch using perfectly good, quality, intercepted surplus and/or locally, sustainably and ethically purchased ingredients. Always with a zero-waste philosophy to cooking.
By ordering catering from Open Kitchen, you’re supporting people who are currently facing food insecurity in Greater Manchester and helping to reduce waste and our carbon footprint.
What makes Open Kitchen MCR different
The sustainable choice for corporate catering
Sustainability is a word that gets thrown around a lot, but at Open Kitchen, we don’t use it lightly. It runs through everything we do – from our sustainable sourcing of ingredients and zero-waste approach to cooking, to our packaging, electric delivery van, carbon accounting, and Net Zero plan.
We get essential supplies to people facing food insecurity every week
Every week, we’re out delivering food and supplies to independent food banks, temporary accommodation, and food pantry projects.
We’re a member of the Xcess Network and partner with a range of organisations in the food industry to put surplus edible food to good use, rather than in landfill.
In 2025, we intercepted 254 tonnes of food that would otherwise have gone to waste in the supply chain and redistributed 105 tonnes to community groups. That’s the equivalent of 250,000 meals, helping to prevent families falling into crisis.
We’re working towards a future where food banks are no longer needed, and food waste doesn’t happen
We support organisations who are working to end the need for emergency food provision and get people out of poverty in real and lasting ways. This includes funding community growing schemes and running our Food Education Programme to support long-term solutions.
We support initiatives such as The Good Food Bill, calling on the government to ensure nutrition and food security for current and future generations.
We champion ethical business
We’re a Real Living Wage Employer and a registered Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter Supporter.
When we buy ingredients, we buy them locally and from organisations we know treat their workers well and pay them fairly.
We hold ourselves to account and report on our impact. 2026 Impact Report coming soon.
