Where does the money actually come from?

Every time a shopper places an order, frommby takes a small platform fee. 10% of that fee — not 10% of the producer's earnings — goes straight into the Buy Back Fund. The producer's share is never touched.

What does the fund buy?

Surplus stock from the producers already on frommby — beautiful, edible, in-date food that didn't sell before its window closed. Loaves at end-of-day. The last crates of a glut. The wonky veg the supermarkets wouldn't list.

Local community fridges, food banks, school breakfast clubs and neighbourhood pantries — partners we work with directly in each area we operate. It's free to the people who collect it. No vouchers, no forms, no shame.

Will you publish what the fund did?

Yes. Once a quarter, we'll publish what came in, what we bought, from whom, and where it went. Transparency is the whole point — if we can't show our working, we don't deserve your trust.

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The Buy Back Fund

Good food
shouldn't go to waste.
Neither should good will.

10% of every fee frommby takes goes straight into a fund that buys remaining stock back from our producers — and gives it, free, to the people in the neighbourhood who need it most.

How the fund works Become a community partner →

Hands passing a paper-wrapped bundle of vegetables across a wooden counter

A glass jar marked with chalk, a single coin caught mid-fall

The pledge

One in every ten pence we keep, goes back.

We never wanted frommby to feel like a tax on local food. So we built a promise into the platform itself: 10% of every customer fee we collect is set aside, automatically, and spent on stock that would otherwise have gone to waste — bought from the producers who grew it, given to the neighbours who need it.

It's not a charity. It's not a marketing campaign. It's the shape of the company.

How the fund works

Three steps. No skip.

From the field to the food bank, the path is short and the accounting is open.

01
A producer flags surplus
End of market. End of week. A glut nobody saw coming. Producers tell frommby what's left and what they'd take for it.
02
The fund buys it back
We pay a fair price — not a fire-sale one — straight from the Buy Back Fund. The producer goes home with money, not waste.
03
The neighbourhood eats
The food goes, free, to local community fridges, food banks and pantries. Real food, in real hands, the same day it was picked.

Why it matters

Two problems. One fund.

For producers

No more end-of-day write-offs.

Small producers carry the risk of surplus alone. A wet weekend, a market that fizzles, a glut nobody can shift — and the maths stops working. The Buy Back Fund turns that risk into working capital and keeps good food out of the skip.

A real buyer for what didn't sell
A fair price — not a fire-sale
Nothing brilliant ends up in landfill

For the community

Real food, on real tables, for free.

Food banks have rarely had a steady supply of fresh, local produce. Tinned beans are necessary; a loaf still warm from the oven is dignity. The fund pays local producers to feed local people — without the supermarket sitting in the middle.

Fresh, seasonal, often same-day
Distributed through trusted local partners
No vouchers, no forms, no shame

Where it goes

Down the road,
not across the country.

We work with local community fridges, food banks, school breakfast clubs and neighbourhood pantries — in every postcode we operate in. Food bought from a producer in Rye ends up on a table in Rye.

If you run a community organisation in our area and you'd like to receive food from the fund — or you know one that should — we'd love to hear from you.

Pantry shelves stocked with fresh bread, veg and jars — A community pantry — Hastings.

Why we built this in

“If we're going to take a fee for connecting neighbours to the people who feed them, the least we can do is give some of it straight back. The Buy Back Fund isn't a sticker we put on the box — it's a line of code that runs on every order. Built in, not bolted on.”

— Daniel Gibbs, East Sussex

Transparency

Open books. Quarterly.

Every quarter we'll publish what came in, what we bought, from whom, and where it went. No grand totals without the line items — if we can't show our working, we don't deserve your trust.

Collected

£0

Going live with our first paying orders.

Spent with producers

£0

The first report will publish at the end of our first quarter live.

Redistributed meals

—

Counted in partnership with our community partners.

Last updated 19 May 2026.

Frequently asked

The fine print, in plain English.

Where does the money actually come from?: Every time a shopper places an order, frommby takes a small platform fee. 10% of that fee — not 10% of the producer's earnings — goes straight into the Buy Back Fund. The producer's share is never touched.
What does the fund buy?: Surplus stock from the producers already on frommby — beautiful, edible, in-date food that didn't sell before its window closed. Loaves at end-of-day. The last crates of a glut. The wonky veg the supermarkets wouldn't list.
Who gets the food?: Local community fridges, food banks, school breakfast clubs and neighbourhood pantries — partners we work with directly in each area we operate. It's free to the people who collect it. No vouchers, no forms, no shame.
Will you publish what the fund did?: Yes. Once a quarter, we'll publish what came in, what we bought, from whom, and where it went. Transparency is the whole point — if we can't show our working, we don't deserve your trust.

Be part of it

Every basket feeds
two neighbourhoods.

Yours, and someone else's. Shop on frommby, list on frommby, or partner with the fund — pick the door that fits.

Shop on frommby List your produce Partner with the fund

Good foodshouldn't go to waste.Neither should good will.

One in every ten pence we keep, goes back.

Three steps. No skip.

A producer flags surplus

The fund buys it back

The neighbourhood eats