Felix Bakes, a community kitchen established by food waste charity The Felix Project and Deliveroo, has turned 1,695kg of surplus food that would have otherwise gone to waste into over 5,686 products in its first four months.
Bananas, courgettes, carrots and even mayonnaise were used by volunteers to bake loaves of bread and healthier cakes such as banana bread, courgette cake and beetroot brownies.
The goods are distributed by The Felix Project to community organisations including food banks, community centres, shelters and primary schools, all of which feed people experiencing food insecurity.
Felix Bakes with Deliveroo in Acton, west London, transformed one of Deliveroo’s delivery-only virtual kitchen units into a fully functioning, fully equipped space. It signed the lease in August and became fully operational in October 2025. Deliveroo provided the kitchen space rent-free, covered all overheads and contributed an additional £25,000 to the project. Co-op is supporting the kitchen with donations of 6,000kg of bakery supplies in the project’s first year.
“Opening Felix Bakes was the highlight of 2025 for me, a small yet mighty initiative,” said head of production Nick Kerle.
“We are lucky enough to have partners like Deliveroo who have supported us by offering us this kitchen free of charge, and worked with us to design it to our needs as well as supporting us with some of the operational costs.
“Led by our bakery manager Joseph Timarchi, Felix Bakes goes from strength to strength. We’ve been increasing the quantity and range of products we make. My personal favourite has been our mayo cake! Using surplus vegan mayonnaise we received at our Acton depot, we convert it into the most delicious chocolate loaf.
“Working with surplus is always exciting and we strive to create unique and delicious products for the communities we support from the incredible surplus we receive. 2026 is going to be an incredible year at Felix Bakes and we cannot wait to see the results.”
Felix Bakes relies on 36 volunteer shifts a week. From the end of this month, Deliveroo teams will begin to regularly volunteer in the kitchen.
Further plans include an employability scheme, a 12-week programme where participants gain hands-on warehouse and kitchen experience working alongside Felix Project staff and volunteers, as well as structured sessions on CV writing, job applications, interviews and confidence building.
Participants will complete mandatory training in food hygiene & safety, COSHH, food allergen awareness and manual handling, and receive recognised qualifications to support future rolls.
Eleanor Garnier, Deliveroo senior policy advisor, said: “Felix Bakes with Deliveroo is about Deliveroo’s commitment to giving back to, and supporting, the communities where its customers, riders, and partners live and work. It’s been incredible to see the impact the community kitchen and the Felix team have had on local communities in such a short space of time.”
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