Teaming up to prevent food waste and help those in need

Adam Buckingham and Anthony Prior at one of Real Junk Foods pop-up cafes at One Church

A collaboration between Bagelman and Franklins Brewery, Optimist Beer was created last year as a solution to Bagelman’s leftover bagels. Optimist Beer will now also use the excess bread from Real Junk Food collections to brew more beer and donate 10 per cent of its profits to the ‘pay as you feel’ cafe.

The immediate funds generated by the partnership will help with the surge in demand for the charity’s services during the winter months.

The Real Junk Food Project serves wholesome meals using surplus food from supermarkets, allowing those with little or no money to eat a decent meal, at its cafes in St. Luke’s Church in Queen’s Park, Hollingdean Community Centre and One Church on Gloucester Place.

Anthony Prior, managing director of Bagelman and Optimist Beer, said: “We are passionate about creating a better future for the people of the city, and this partnership with The Real Junk Food Project does just that.

“As part of our continued goal to have a positive impact on the city, we will be launching a crowdfunding campaign in early 2018 to help increase our brewing capacity and introduce a canning line - the first such facility in Sussex. This will also enable us to help more breweries reduce their environmental impact by using cans instead of bottles.”

Adam Buckingham , founder of The Real Junk Food Project Brighton, said: “We feel very excited and proud about the Real Junk Food Project and Bagelman partnership. It means we are able to save even more food from going to waste and also educate more people about our ethos. Bread is the most wasted product in the country due to vast amounts of overproduction. The Bagelman collaboration allows us to work with more companies, helping to redirect their surplus into this initiative.

“The partnership also means an added financial security for us. The work that we do in Brighton and Hove involves huge running costs and the 'pay as you feel' donations that we receive unfortunately do not cover these costs. The partnership is a win-win for us because it feels like we are being rewarded for the huge amounts of work that we do in the city, addressing food waste and feeding the community.”