Your Grocery Cart Can Change the World: 7 Australian Social Enterprises to Shop Right Now
We all need groceries, but what if every item in your pantry or cleaning cupboard did more than just nourish your body or clean your home? What if every purchase actively created jobs, supported refugees, uplifted the LGBTQIA+ community, or fought food waste?
That is the power of a social enterprise. These businesses exist to achieve a social or environmental mission, and they invest the majority of their profits back into that cause. Next time you head to the virtual (or actual) grocery store, consider shopping with intention.
Here are seven incredible social enterprises you can support in NSW & ACT, making a positive impact with every delicious bite and mindful purchase:
Photo credit: The Bread & Butter Project
1. From Pantry Staples to Artisan Bread
These enterprises are redefining your daily staples, from fragrant spices to freshly baked sourdough.
The Bread & Butter Project
The Product: Handcrafted artisan sourdoughs, pastries, rolls, and specialty loaves that are full of goodness and flavour.
The Mission: As Australia’s first social enterprise bakery, they invest 100% of their profits into training and employment pathways for refugees in Australia who are aspiring to become skilled bakers.
Visit: http://thebreadandbutterproject.com
Roswods
The Product: High-quality, all-natural, certified-organic spices and superfoods like Ceylon Cinnamon, Cloves, and Moringa Powder.
The Mission: Roswods works to reconnect Earth, producers, and consumers. They buy direct from smallholder farmers in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, pay fair prices, and support regenerative and ancestral farming practices that heal the soil and provide traceability for the consumer.
Visit: https://www.roswods.com
Queer Food
The Product: A vibrant range of food retail products, including Rainbow Bow Tie Pasta, Aussie Dukkah, and a selection of delicious sauces (BBQ, Chilli, Tomato). They also offer catering services.
The Mission: This enterprise is run by Trans and Queer people and exists to tell LGBTQIA+ stories through food. They celebrate identity, resilience, and community by providing employment and training for queer and trans people and reinvesting profits into the communities they serve.
Visit: https://www.queerfood.com.au
2. Sweet Treats and Sustainable Drinks
Make your next indulgence count by choosing treats and beverages that drive social change.
Chocolate on Purpose
The Product: Beautifully crafted chocolate bars infused with Australian native ingredients like Illawarra Plum (Daalgaal) and Davidson Plum (Ooray), alongside cacao powder and gift hampers.
The Mission: As a 100% Aboriginal owned and managed social enterprise, they share Indigenous Culture through the story of chocolate. They focus on People, Planet, and Equity by supporting Indigenous farmers and sourcing cocoa responsibly to empower women and combat child labour in the supply chain.
Visit: https://www.chocolateonpurpose.com.au
OzHarvest Ventures
The Product: This is the venture arm of the national food rescue charity, OzHarvest. Their portfolio of impact-driven businesses and products includes brands like **Oh! LemonAid** and **Good & Fugly 2.0**, which transform surplus food into commercial goods.
The Mission: Obsessed with fixing food waste and hunger, OzHarvest Ventures launches, partners, and scales innovative commercial solutions that amplify OzHarvest's core commitment to nourish the country and solve social and environmental problems.
Visit: https://www.ozharvest.ventures/
3. Kitchen & Home Essentials
Even the soaps and ready-made meals you buy can support someone rebuilding their life.
Two Good Co.
The Product: Premium, ready-to-eat meals (via catering), gift packs, cookbooks, and body care items like hand wash. The business operates on a 'Buy One, Give One' model for its meals and select products.
The Mission: Everything they do is designed to rebuild self-worth and independence for vulnerable women who have experienced homelessness, crisis, abuse, and complex trauma, primarily through providing employment pathways and distributing essential care packs and meals to shelters.
Visit: http://www.twogood.com.au
Base Soaps
The Product: Handmade, high-quality bar and liquid products for your hands, body, and hair, made with natural, vegan, and cruelty-free ingredients.
The Mission: Base Soaps is focused on empowering consumers to affect real change within Australian communities. They combine high-quality, gentle products with an aim to leave a **small environmental footprint** while creating a positive impact.
Visit: http://www.basesoaps.com.au
The next time you make your weekly grocery run, remember that your choices have power. By choosing a social enterprise, you are not just purchasing a product; you are funding a mission, creating a job, and supporting someone on their pathway to a better life. Happy conscious shopping!
See something that needs fixing up, or know a social enterprise that should be on this list? Please email us and let us know!