The King will open two hubs designed to save and circulate tonnes of surplus food as he marks his 76th birthday. The opening of the distribution centres will also mark the first anniversary of the Coronation Food Project, an initiative to support charities feeding the nation with unwanted food. Charles, who celebrates his birthday next Thursday, will open the initiative’s first two Coronation Food Hubs – one in person and one virtually.
It is hoped the hubs will help charities like FareShare and the Felix Project to support communities in need. The hub the King is visiting will host a “surplus food festival”, with meals created from food which would otherwise have gone to waste. Charles will tour the new facility, meeting beneficiaries and representatives of food banks, schools and community groups.
The Coronation Food Project is investing in a network of hubs, adding scale and capacity to warehouses, boosting cold storage facilities and funding lorries, vans and drivers to boost their distribution capacity. A newly installed industrial freezer, which Charles will view during the visit, will increase capacity by 400%, improving the charity’s ability to preserve more surplus food. Buckingham Palace said there are three pillars to the Coronation Food Project, with the first being the goal of saving more surplus food.
The second is “supercharging” food distribution networks to ensure surplus produce can reach those who need it most through the creation of a network.