A DRAGON'S Den contender who launched his multi-million pound meal delivery business from his front room in Oxford is giving back to the city’s food bank.

Self-confessed foodie Timo Boldt created Gousto four years ago when he found his busy life as a hedge fund manager prevented him from pursing one of his favourite hobbies – cooking.

Gousto subscribers get boxes delivered to their home which contain all the ingredients needed to cook a meal from scratch, and a recipe card.

The concept has become so popular – boasting an annual turnover of £17m – Mr Boldt decided to share some of his success with Oxford Food Bank.

For every recipe box bought in Oxfordshire this month, Gousto is donating £1 to the food bank which supports more than 60 charities that support homeless people, mental health, children's centres and women's refuges.

Mr Boldt, 31, said a shared goal to reduce food waste inspired him to help.

He said: "I love cooking, but like many people I work extremely long hours and don’t have time to shop for ingredients – and even when I do, I waste half of them.

"We’ve all done it – over ordering fresh meat and produce only to watch it go off, or making something none of the family likes and being left with spices we’ll never use.

"It's wrong that so much food ends up in the bin and that's how the initial idea to create Gousto came about: by delivering all the ingredients to people in exact portion sizes there is little waste – last year we prevented 120 tonnes of food from being thrown away."

For every £1 Gousto donates, Oxford Food Bank will be able to distribute £20 worth of fresh fruit, vegetables, bread and dairy products around Oxfordshire.

Oxford Food Bank co-ordinator David Kay said: "We completely rely on donations and volunteers to distribute fresh and healthy food to people in need – so we’re more than happy to accept help from a company like Gousto that has the same aim as us: to reduce waste."

Mr Boldt was living in Botley Road when launched Gousto with his then business partner James Carter.

The duo were featured on the 2013 series of Dragon’s Den but despite Duncan Bannatyne helping to cook their smoked trout salad, they failed to get investment.

Since then Gousto has attracted funding from other venture firms and smaller angel investors including TV presenter Andi Peters, and now delivers 360,000 recipe boxes a year across the UK, employs almost 200 people and doubles its revenue annually.