Deliveroo is marking Pride Month with the launch of The Open Kitchen, an initiative designed to mentor and support aspiring LGBTQIA+ chefs.
The delivery giant has committed up to £15,000 to The Open Kitchen Fund, which will sponsor up to five chefs to complete training courses at Lynx Educate or Leiths School of Food and Wine.
The initiative, commencing today (5 June) in London, will see professional chefs from LGBTQIA+ owned Deliveroo partners The Athenian and Nanny Bill’s mentoring up-and-coming talent. Over two days, the budding chefs will participate in masterclasses, learning to create dishes like The Athenian’s Chicken Gyros Wrap and Courgette Fritters, and Nanny Bill’s The Dalston Dip and Aggy Fries. These dishes will then be available on Deliveroo for customers to purchase, with proceeds going to The Open Kitchen Fund.
“At Deliveroo we believe in the power of food to tell stories, help forge identities, and bring people closer together. We are excited to launch The Open Kitchen and a new fund that will have a lasting impact well beyond Pride Month,” said Kelvin Chen, global co-lead of Deliveroo’s LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group.
This initiative addresses significant under-representation of the LGBTQIA+ community in commercial kitchens, Deliveroo said, an issue highlighted by a OnePoll survey of 100 LGBTQIA+ UK adults in hospitality. The survey revealed that 64% feel the issue is not adequately discussed, 81% have been the only openly LGBTQIA+ person in their workplace, and 61% lack confidence entering workplaces where their community is under-represented.
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“I started Queers in Food & Beverage over three years ago, after experiencing a lack of representation of the queer community in the industry first hand. I’m thrilled to be partnering with Deliveroo on this initiative,” said Rachel Rumbol, founder of Queers in Food & Beverage, which has partnered with Deliveroo on the project. ”My hope is that The Open Kitchen will help increase visibility of the LGBTQIA+ community in kitchens and hospitality, and prompt conversations about this issue during Pride Month and beyond.”
The Open Kitchen Fund aims to support LGBTQIA+ culinary talent across the UK, with all sales from the pop-up restaurant contributing to the fund. Deliveroo will match these sales as an additional donation.
The Open Kitchen delivery restaurant will be available to order on Deliveroo from 5 and 6 June.
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