Urban Bistro has made its 1,000th food delivery to Stoke-on-Trent homeless charity, the Macari Foundation.
The Crewe based vending business, which is part of the Wrights Food Group and boasts more than 300 machines situated in leisure centres, retail parks, businesses and distribution centres, has been delivering fresh food every week since the Macari Centre opened in 2016 and this week, the charity’s founder, the former Manchester United player and Stoke City manager Lou Macari, thanked the Urban Bistro team for its role in supplying ‘one of the most important things’ to the individuals who rely on the charity for food, shelter and care.’
‘When I set up the Macari Centre I had three core aims – to feed people, clothe them and put a roof over their heads’, Lou said. ‘None of this is possible without the support and generosity of local businesses and the Urban Bistro team have been with us since the very beginning, supplying Wrights pies, burgers, sandwiches and subs two or three days a week.
‘Food is a great healer and knowing that we can rely on deliveries of Wrights foods, which are made locally and loved by us all, means we can offer guaranteed comfort and quality time when our guests gather together to eat and talk about their day’, Lou said.
Urban Bistro describes itself as ‘the first vending business in the UK to manufacture and deliver its own fresh food for daily vending’. Products are freshly prepared each day by Wrights’ chefs before being delivered in temperature controlled trucks.
Urban Bistro’s spokesperson Ian Dawson explains: “Urban Bistro has been operating as part of the Wrights portfolio for six years and our units can be seen in businesses and retail outlets across the country. We supply our own, Wrights manufactured foods including pies, sausage rolls and paninis and have a team of people who replace the products every day. This means there is often food, still within its use by date, which is substituted for newer items.
‘We have a zero-waste policy within our business, which means we are always looking for ethical ways to ensureour food never goes to waste, so donating products to the Macari Centre was the perfect solution for us. After seven years of making our deliveries to Lou and the team, we are delighted to be marking our 1,000th donation.’
Lou added: ‘In my opinion, providing a range of quality food is one of the most important things we do here at the Macari Centre and I want to thank the team at Wrights and Urban Bistro for donating what must amount to several tonnes of products over the last seven years. One of the reasons I set up the charity is because I knew I’d get the support of people and businesses in Stoke-on-Trent and that I could rely on their generosity. Urban Bistro is a perfect example of a local business giving back to its local community and we’re looking forward to the next 1,000 deliveries in the years ahead!’
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