What do we do?

The Magic Hat Café aims to abolish avoidable food waste by ‘upcycling’ surplus food to feed the community, whilst also leading research and activism on food waste in Newcastle.

Food that would otherwise be sent to landfill is collected from local businesses in and around Newcastle upon Tyne. This includes fruit and vegetables that are unattractive; bakery products that can only be sold on the day of production, surplus from food growers and end-of-line or unsold produce.

Collections are sorted and then prepared into nutritious meals and drinks, which are served to the public on a ‘Pay-As-You-Feel’ basis. People can pay with their money or time to help us cover the costs of intercepting and redistributing this food. We have been operating as a ‘pop-up’ café and caterer since 2015 and have been working hard to establish a permanent space for our activities.

PAYF Supermarket

In April 2018 we launched Newcastle’s first PAYF supermarket at Byker Community Centre. We are working with the staff and volunteers to bring fresh surplus food to the city that is available to all, no referrals, no addresses, everybody is welcome and as long as the food gets eaten and not landfilled, we’re happy!

Keep an eye out for updates on our permanent cafe launch this year..!

Who are we?

The Magic Hat Café is an entirely volunteer run organisation. We are a diverse group of people who share a common passion for fighting food waste and feeding our community.

The Magic Hat Café is part of The Real Junk Food Project (TRJFP) network, an exciting movement of similar projects throughout the UK and around the world.

The Magic Hat Café is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company.