The Daily Café in Te Puke has closed its doors for six weeks while it undergoes a major renovation designed to strengthen its role as a café and a community food hub.

Manager Nina Vergnes said the project is about much more than refurbishing the Commerce Lane café.

“It’s not just about renovating the café. It’s about creating a space that will serve our community for another 10 years.”

The café, run by The Daily Charitable Trust, is a social enterprise whose café and catering income helps fund programmes that make nutritious food more accessible across the Te Puke district.

A key part of the renovation is converting the rear of the premises into a larger commercial kitchen with expanded chilled and frozen storage.

The upgrade followed the closure of the trust’s separate commercial kitchen on Jellicoe St late last year after it lost its school lunches contract.

Although that operation ended, Vergnes said the need for a commercial kitchen did not.

“We still need a place where we can prepare frozen meals for families, rescue surplus produce and process large quantities of food for distribution through the community.”

The trust rescues fruit, buys staple ingredients and supplies food to local schools, making storage and food processing space essential.

Bringing everything together under one roof would also eliminate the cost of operating two leased premises.

While the kitchen is being significantly enlarged, customers will notice few changes to the café itself, Vergnes said.

“We’re not losing any seating, but after 10 years we also needed to carry out maintenance and bring the building up to current compliance requirements.”

The renovations would include improved toilet facilities and a more flexible dining area that can be used after-hours by community groups.

Vergnes said Te Puke had few venues suitable for small to medium-sized meetings and events, so the space would be available, usually free of charge, for non-profit organisations.

The renovation has been funded largely through savings from the trust’s former school lunch programme, along with a community fundraiser and support from local businesses, Vergnes said.

Rather than replacing equipment, the trust will reuse most of the commercial kitchen equipment it already owns, she said.

The organisation has six permanent staff and is increasingly relying on volunteers to support its work.

Vergnes said the project would not have happened without community backing.

“A big thank you to our volunteers, local businesses and everyone who’s supported us. What we do, we do for the community – it’s about food and connection.”

The Daily Café is expected to reopen in mid-August. The trust plans to celebrate the café’s 10th anniversary in October.