OUR APPROACH
Feeding for the future
Our vision is for an inclusive world where everyone feels nourished. This is not possible without making proactive and sometimes difficult changes to ensure our food needs are met without compromising the health and wellbeing of the planet, those growing and eating our food, as well as ensuring the longevity of the kitchen for the future.
Planet
VEGETARIAN-ISH (AND WHY WE SOMETIMES COOK WITH MEAT)
We mostly cook vegetarian options, yet occasionally feature meat and fish from local, high welfare sources. Our workshops and catering menus largely reflect this approach. The reason we’re not exclusively vegetarian, is because our community courses often showcase meat-based dishes from participants' cultures. We aim to balance environmental impact with the nourishing impact of familiar dishes, allowing people to share the food they love.
When we do cook meat and fish, we source from local, organic, and high welfare producers like Gothelney Farm and Stream Farm. We are also currently looking to partner with a high welfare halal meat supplier for our workshops. Please get in touch if you can help us with this.
Suppliers
LOCAL, SEASONAL AND ORGANIC
We take a lot of care choosing where our food comes from, and which producers we choose to support. We aim to cook with mostly organic fruit and vegetables, and support local producers where possible. If suppliers are not certified organic (for a variety of reasons) but follow organic and regenerative practices, we are still keen to build a relationship with them.
Our current local suppliers include Three Hares Farm, Sims Hill Harvest, Bristol Cheesemonger, Field Bakery, The Community Farm. For more wholesale produce, we use Global Organics and Essentials.
All our cleaning and washing products are Bio D, refilling and reusing containers as much as possible.
Energy
ENERGY CONSUMPTION, BUILDING & MAINTENANCE
A major change we made recently was to move our energy provider to Ecotricity, who use 100% renewable energy. Our kitchen and office space is heated by infrared heaters - one of the most efficient ways of heating space, compared to standard radiator/convection heaters. Due to the nature of the Mivart Studios building (previously a Victorian factory) we are in, there are plenty of improvements to be made in terms of insulation, to improve our energy efficiency.
Small changes
We are by no means perfect, but we are dedicated to continually reducing our impact on the planet, and looking for ways to improve our offering. The steps we have recently taken to work towards this are:
Switched to 100% renewable energy provider in 2023
Accurately plan catering and wedding menus to ensure they are using seasonal and local produce, so minimal food waste is achieved
Gradually eliminate single-use plastics from the kitchen. We've already switched from regular washing-up sponges to natural loofahs & changed our food containers to a compostable version.
Upgraded our fridge to a more energy-efficient model
If you have experience working in the sustainability sector, in particular within the hospitality or food business sectors and can offer advice, please get in touch with joey@coexistuk.org
Our guiding principles on People & Profit
Non-profit
As a non profit organisation & registered CIC, our business model is slightly different. Any profit we make directly funds the running of the kitchen, paying for staff, ingredients & maintenance. Roughly 50% of our income is self generated through catering, and the rest comes from donations, grants and other fundraising. All of this helps us deliver our wide-ranging work in the community.
Inclusivity
Anyone who comes through our doors is welcomed. We have been operating in Bristol for over 11 years and in this time we have developed partnerships and relationships with many different organisations and worked with 1000s of individuals accessing support services across the city. You can view our partners here. We are always open to partnering with a new organisation or support service.
Fair wage
We strongly believe that everyone deserves a fair wage for the work they do. Anyone we employ (salaried or freelance) earns well above the real living wage, but we are aiming to increase this further to match inflation whilst maintaining our non profit values. We also strive to support local businesses who pay their employees fair and above living wages.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Get involved in the kitchen
We couldn't do what we do without the generous donations and volunteers from the community. There are lots of ways you can get involved.