Thrifty Chef CIC is a social enterprise – an organisation focused on reducing food waste and teaching essential cooking skills through simple and tasty box meals.
Our main product, the Thrifty Chef box, is an all-in-one meal kit.
We provide the produce, herbs and spices along with a recipe that changes every week to offer two portions of a meal.
A day in the life:
We pick up the produce from Grainger Market's Hector Hall, and we haul it all back to the pilot kitchen in the agriculture building.
We sort through our dry goods and spices and find ingredients that complement the fresh surplus we have just picked up.
We package the boxes, working methodically, one ingredient at a time.
We sell them!
Our Story
I co-founded Thrifty Chef with Edward Wilkinson officially in 2023, but it was really a year in the making.
We met through the SDG Peer Mentor Challenge in 2022 as part of our very first module, Introduction to nutrition (NUT1007).
We came in third place, won £500, which was awarded to the team represented by Caitlin Donohoe (peer mentor), Amber Hamilton, Pete Kendall, Hazel Lim, Amber Ruddick and Edward Wilkinson.
Their proposal, linked to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), focused on utilising food waste from stores such as the Co-op to supply food boxes containing the ingredients for a recipe along with a recipe card.
The food box could then be collected by students, and others struggling with the cost of living, from the Newcastle University Students' Union
- Helen Mason (Lecturer, Biomedical, Nutritional and Sports Science)
We knew we wanted to grow, and START UP gave us £2,000 to cover our packaging, advertising and stock for the next year, which allowed us to offer overnight oats from January 2024.
We were awarded the Outstanding Contribution to Sustainability & Environmental Justice in the Newcastle University Awards 2024, something which we are all incredibly proud of.
Henry, Molly, and Liam took over in September 2024 as Ed and I went and started our placement years in industry.
Looking ahead, Thrifty Chef is participating in the innovation lab, which this year focuses on social enterprise in particular.
Highs, Impact:
If I had to mention the benefits of Thrifty Chef, the biggest would have to be the impact.
In 2023 we saved over 825kg of Greenhouse gas emissions (carbon dioxide).
Alongside the environmental impact, it has had a huge impact on my professional development has been immense.
Developing incredibly strong teamwork and communication skills has been essential, along with building up my confidence to think on the fly.
Lows:
As great as it has been to develop my quick thinking and problem-solving, dealing with fresh produce leaves the business as a fairly reactive one. While you can plan demand relatively accurately, the supply side can vary massively. There will always be wastage, but whether it’s too far gone or puts us in the tricky position of dealing with 50kg of turnips, no two days are ever the same.
Something also has to be said about the massive time commitment something like this requires. I have learned so much about myself and running a business, but working for yourself doesn’t give you much time off.
