Our Mission
La Soupe bridges the gap between food waste and hunger by transforming surplus ingredients into nutritious meals for those in need through the power of chefs.
Each week, we rescue an average of 30,000 pounds of fresh food from local grocers, farms, manufacturers, and distributors. Our chefs transform these ingredients into restaurant-quality soupes and meals, which are shared with community partners who feed our neighbors facing food insecurity.
Good food should never go to waste—and no one should go hungry.
Our Vision
A future where no food is wasted, communities are nourished, and people and the environment thrive together.
Our Core Values
We believe in exemplary quality and safety, agile creativity, dignified inclusivity, community collaboration, and dynamic sustainability. We operate with kindness, community-centered decision making, transparency, and action-oriented leadership.
Our Pillars
RESCUE
We rescue perishable, quality food from being wasted or discarded.
Our culinary education programs teach the essential cooking skills and knowledge needed to prepare nutritious, food-saving, cost-effective meals at home.
EDUCATE
TRANSFORM
A skilled team of professional chefs and volunteers transforms surplus ingredients into delicious, nutritious meals.
NOURISH
A registered dietitian develops nourishing, health-promoted meal options and Medically Tailored Meal (MTM) interventions that help prevent, manage, and treat chronic illnesses.
La Soupe distributes ready-to-eat meals to over 160 Share partners that feed those facing food insecurity.
SHARE
The Rescue | Transform | Share model is being adopted by a growing network of kitchens in Ohio and beyond. We are actively leading the “Rescue Kitchen Network,” supporting programs that combat food waste and food insecurity nationwide.
INSPIRE
Rescuing Food, Not Trash
Think food rescue means dumpster diving? Think again. Rescued food isn’t expired or unsafe—it’s surplus, slightly imperfect, or simply unloved. Maybe it’s a bruised apple, a mislabeled product, or a stash of tortillas from a taco spot that just swapped to a different size.
Every week, our team processes 30,000 pounds of food from grocers, farms, manufacturers, and distributors. Everything is weighed, sorted, and checked for safety in our Board of Health-certified facility.
Transforming Surplus Into Nourishment
Imagine a local food pantry in Clifton receiving 1,000 pounds of squash from a grocery store, while another across town takes in 400 pounds of perfectly good but soon-to-expire raw chicken. Meanwhile, a restaurant chain in Kentucky donates its surplus tomatoes to a senior center. While these donations are valuable, many organizations lack the resources or culinary expertise to turn them into nutritious and delicious meals.
We take in rescued food at our commissary kitchen, where our professional chefs and volunteers transform it into 150,000 ready-to-eat servings each month. By handling short-dated and bulk-packaged ingredients, we take the burden off our 150+ partner organizations—so they can focus on serving their communities, while we make sure no good food goes to waste.
Sharing Knowledge with Our Community
Reducing food waste and fighting hunger starts with knowledge. Through our community education programs, we teach individuals and families essential cooking skills—helping them prepare nourishing meals, reduce waste, and make the most of their ingredients.
Inspiring Nationwide Change
Beyond Cincinnati, we partner with other nonprofit rescue kitchens, sharing our Rescue | Transform | Share model to help organizations across the country build sustainable and equitable food programs.
After a decade of refining this approach, we’re passionate about empowering others to create lasting change in their own communities.