Local Social Enterprise Joins FoodINC
October 2nd 2022:
Meals with Impact (MWI), a social enterprise dedicated to helping women of migrant and refugee backgrounds feel more confident working in Australia’s hospitality industry, has recently joined The Food Incubator Network Centre (FoodINC), Melbourne Innovation Centre’s food industry support channel to expand their impact in the community.
MWI’s mission is to provide the opportunity for learning, training and working through the creation and distribution of culturally diverse meals in a safe, inclusive and equitable environment.
Founded last June, the social enterprise aims to provide hands-training, paid work, and a pathway to meaningful, sustainable employment free of discrimination and marginalisation to contribute to industries facing significant skills shortages.
The enterprise has helped 25 local women secure sustainable employment and provided 30,000+ meals. MWI currently has a management team of three and employs 10 women, with the aim to scale very soon.
This week, MWI is joining local food and kitchen incubator FoodINC – a local initiative led by Melbourne Innovation Centre (MIC) that provides affordable kitchen space, support across compliance and connections to commercial leads – to accelerate their enterprise and expand their impact in the community.
Of creating the enterprise, MWI Community Engagement Manager Nikki Blanch said: “We saw a huge demand for employment that breaks through systemic barriers to provide an entry point to a meaningful job, and also saw the huge demand for halal, culturally diverse meals, that have been co-designed with community members to meet the cultural and religious needs of diverse communities across Melbourne.”
“There are so many mutual benefits we can see to a healthy collaboration with FoodINC and MIC. The primary benefits to us are a well-equipped kitchen while we grow our revenue streams, the mentoring relationship offered by MIC, strengthening our employment pathways program through educational opportunities, and of course sharing our networks to mutually benefit growth opportunities.
“We are super excited to be a part of this enterprise and can’t wait to see how it supports our growth to create positive social impacts.”
FoodINC Manager Lou Zarro said: “Helping social enterprises like Meals with Impact expand their businesses and impact perfectly aligns with our objectives and we’re honoured to have them on board. There is great synergy with their work, the goals around training of partners Melbourne Polytechnic and the values of our founders who seek to be part of a vibrant, diverse community.”
FoodINC is an initiative led by Melbourne Innovation Centre in partnership with Melbourne Polytechnic and Melbourne’s North Food Group, with support from the City of Whittlesea and other government partners.
To learn how FoodINC helps food businesses on their journey to profitability head to https://www.foodincubator.com.au/
For more about FoodINC, contact it’s manager Lou Zarro.
Email: lou.zarro@melbourneinnovation.com.au
Tel: 0418 163 523
