Here at Porthi Aber, we’ve started using a pricing structure called “Pay As You Can” for our new Community Dinners, taking place every month, from July through to September 2026.

But, what does this mean and look like in reality?

Ever since we started back in 2016, we’ve used the pricing structure “Pay As You Feel” for community events and meals. However, since then we’ve experienced a cost-of-living crisis, and many economic and environmental challenges to our food system and lives as a whole. We’ve noticed that many people would like to pay what they feel, however, they can’t, due to their financial challenges. Therefore, Pay As You Can, feels more appropriate.

Pay As You Can aims to be inclusive and gives people ownership to choose what they can contribute financially. Many people think we offer a free food service here at Porthi Aber. For example, one of the initiatives we run here at Hwb Porthi Aber is a surplus food community pantry, whereby we collect surplus food from supermarkets and make this available to community members every Weds, Thurs and Friday. Even last week, someone said to me “I’m here to collect some free food”.

The food we make available to our community isn’t free. Communicating to the public, that this isn’t free food is one of the biggest challenges we face as an organisation.

The food has many costs associated with it. For example, for us as an organisation to organise, collect and distribute the food (e.g. transport costs), food hygiene and safety costs, equipment, electricity costs to store the food in fridges and freezers, running costs for us as an organisation (insurance, health and safety, staff costs), rent for the building, as well as water, internet and a whole host of other hidden costs.

Therefore, one of the creative ways we are exploring overcoming this challenge, is hosting a series of Community Dinners using the Pay As You Can pricing structure. Instead of a set price, Pay As You Can, gives people the opportunity to choose how much they would like to contribute financially. We know this can be a difficult and possibly overwhelming decision, so we have come up with some things for people to consider when thinking about how much to pay:

1. Affordability – how much can you afford at this time?

2. Comparison – what would you pay for a similar experience elsewhere? E.g. at a café or restaurant?

3. Experience – have you enjoyed the experience? If yes, you might pay a bit more, if not, you might pay less.

4. Values and ethos – how much do you align with our ethos and mission of facilitating community-led change and positive climate action? If you do, and you would like to see more similar things happening, then you might contribute more.

5. Process behind the product or experience – there are many unseen costs such as rent, utility bills, insurance, transport costs, ingredients, staff and volunteer time. These are often hidden costs.

Alongside this, we presented some pricing options to help people out, for example, £0, £5, £8, £10, or an optional amount.

We know this isn’t perfect, however, we hope this gives people an opportunity to pause, consider and reflect upon how much we pay for food, and ultimately, how much we value food. We’ve written previously on food prices, cheap food and surplus food – see this article from fellow Founder Heather from 2019 “Food Surplus or Cheap Food?” https://www.porthiaber.co.uk/blog/2019/12/5/food-surplus-or-cheap-food and in 2020 “What is the role of Surplus Food in our community?” https://www.porthiaber.co.uk/blog/2020/6/10/what-is-the-role-of-surplus-food-in-our-community

We believe food is essential for life and we all should have access to quality, healthy and local food, whilst the people growing and preparing our food should be paid a decent wage and have a meaningful quality of life. Watch this space for more thoughts and reflections on the food system. Let us know what you think in the comments below, get in touch with us on afscommunityhub@gmail.com or come along to our Community Dinners, the next two coming up are on Weds 19th August 2026, and Weds 16th September 2026. https://www.porthiaber.co.uk/communitydinners

Chris Woodfield

What is “Pay As You Can” and could this transform the way we think about food?

PORTHI ABER