A CHAIN restaurant with a branch in Reading’s Oracle is currently serving a special Veganuary menu, while also donating up to a million meals to low-income families.
Wagamama’s kare lomen dish comprises udon noodles in a bowl of coconut broth with a chilli kick, and topped with vegan teriyaki ‘chicken’, coriander, beansprouts and cucumber.
And every meal sold will help the work of food charity The Bread and Butter Thing, which supports thousands of families in more than 80 locations in the north of England
This brings low-cost food to low-income communities.
Those in need of support pay a fraction of the cost for food, which is sourced direct from manufacturers and retailers. It has over 40,000 members and redistributes to more than 5,000 families a week who typically pay £7.50 for £35 worth of groceries.
wagamama has already supplied food and bespoke recipes cards to The Bread And Butter Thing and the £25,000 wagamama donation will pay forf41 truck journeys with each able to carry 426 tonnes of food with each tonne equating to 2,380 meals – a grand total of just over a million meals.
wagamama CEO, Thomas Heier, said: “At wagamama we believe in the Japanese philosophy of seijaku; finding calm and tranquillity in the midst of activity.
“In these challenging times it is important that we all continue to nourish ourselves and our communities.
“Typically, every veganuary we like to surprise and delight our guests with a plant-based showstopper, but we know this veganuary is a little bit different for families across the UK, so it is a privilege this year to support local communities through our newly launched partnership with The Bread and Butter Thing.”
The team-up has been welcomed by the charity’s chief executive officer, Mark Game.
“wagamama’s philosophy of nourishment chimes exactly with The Bread and Butter Thing’s work to ensure that people in low-income communities can access healthy, nutritious food for their families.
“By providing both food and funding to support the unseen but vital logistics that go into making The Bread and Butter Thing possible, wagamama will help us deliver over 1 million meals worth of food to our members who are making really difficult decisions between heating and eating, or even keeping a roof over their heads, in the toughest financial crisis of a generation.”
The Kare Lomen is available, in store and via home delivery firm Deliveroo, until the end of the month.
