Cafe Model Research

I did some research on the community cafes and found Denise Cerrito created an organisation called One World Everybody Eats (OWEE) which was for the purpose of spreading her community cafe business model. 

https://www.moneycrashers.com/community-cafes/ described her community cafe model as; Everything is made from fresh, locally sourced ingredients. You load up your plate with exactly as much as you want of each dish, and when you get to the checkout, you decide exactly how much you’re willing to pay for the meal.

The benefits this model has are (as described by MoneyCrashers);

• Fighting Hunger. With their pay-what-you-can pricing, community cafes make healthy food available to people who couldn’t afford to eat at a regular restaurant. Unlike soup kitchens, which simply give away food to the poor, community cafes give people a chance to work in exchange for a meal, so they don’t feel like they’re taking charity. As a bonus, they get a chance to learn kitchen skills that can help them if they ever want to seek work in a restaurant.

• Reducing Food Waste. The goals of fighting hunger and reducing food waste go hand in hand.  Since customers in a community cafe can choose their own portions, they’re less likely to have leftover food to discard. 

• Encouraging Healthy Eating. Letting the customers control portion sizes doesn’t just reduce waste – it also prevents overeating. In addition to the smaller portions, most community cafes focus on healthy food, particularly fresh, seasonal produce.

• Supporting Local Farmers. Community cafes get as much of their food as possible from local farmers. They focus particularly on foods that are sustainably produced, from organic foods to free-range meats and Fair Trade coffee.

• Promoting Community. A community cafe is more than just a restaurant – it’s also a gathering place where people from all walks of life can meet and talk over a meal. Many community cafes make a point of providing a single large table where single people or small groups can sit down with others, including people from other social or economic classes who might never cross paths with them anywhere else.