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 Potluck Café and Catering – A Social Enterprise Success Story
Potluck Cafe and Catering is a full-service catering enterprise located in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. They offer a positive working environment to people with employment barriers (such as addictions, homelessness, and mental illness), and put 100% of proceeds from their operations directly to funding employment training and meal programs for some of Vancouver's most under-privileged residents.
BC SVP provided Potluck with a three-year grant in 2004, and the organization has continued to grow and thrive.
When the Partner team of George and Cathy Brown (Salesworks), Jessica Hotz (ERA Foundation) and Sam Znaimer (Ventures West) began working with them, Potluck was running a busy cafe and catering company with a following of loyal customers, but a number of limitations to growth. They were short-staffed, using a manual ordering system, with no dedicated delivery vans, lacking a sound marketing plan – and eager to work with BC SVP to achieve their goal of financial self-sufficiency.
The Partner team began by securing an in-kind software donation, so that Potluck could begin taking catering orders online. This system not only replaced their time-consuming manual ordering system, but also helped them to market themselves via email and through their website.
As business increased, the Potluck team began improving the visibility of the social enterprise in the community through new signs and a branded delivery van. The team also worked together to focus management attention on activities that provided the most business benefit while generating the greatest social impact.
The hard work paid off for Potluck, and their operational improvements led directly to increased revenues. In turn, Potluck was able to expand their meal program, feeding 500 additional hungry people every month.
To order from Potluck Catering for your next office function, please visit www.potluckcatering.com
By Cindy Pandini, Executive Director, BC Social Venture Partners (BC SVP). Cindy can be contacted at cpandini@bctsvp.com
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