Why The Soup Pedlars is London's newest sustainable lunch of choice

January’s bite — not to mention the impending cold snap — calls for a comforting bowl of hearty soup. But instead of risking the chill with a trip to the shops, you can now summon a new bicycle-powered delivery service that pedals broth straight to your door.

The Soup Pedlars are the newest lunch hero on the block — and a sustainable solution to the capital’s food waste problem. Sign up online and you will receive a bundle of three homemade, seasonal soups to your home or office each week. Flavours include chestnut and thyme, and its bestselling French onion.

It’s all about reducing food miles and food waste, explains founder Duncan Wilson. Each broth is made from “ugly” or wonky vegetables that have been discarded from markets around London. They are served up in refillable glass jars: after you’ve finished, leave the jars outside and The Soup Pedlars’ riders will make like the milkman and refill them with next week’s soup.

The service launched in London last year and is expanding to the Square Mile next month. A weekly subscription costs £10, for three soups that will be delivered to your office every Monday.

The Greenwich-based start-up will have a rotating, seasonal menu. This week’s bundle includes roasted red pepper, celeriac and French onion — customers’ favourite. Wilson wants Londoners to suggest soups they’d like to see in future weeks and you can discover new flavours at next month’s supper club: a souped-up evening of wine, nibbles and seasonal broths at the London Cooking Project in Battersea on Feb 12.