FOOD BECOMES HOME, HOPE & PURPOSE - STREAT
At STREAT, food becomes home, hope, and hands-on change. Based in Melbourne, this social enterprise bridges the gap between marginalisation and opportunity by offering holistic training, work experience, and support to young people who’ve faced hardship. Through cafés, bakeries, catering, and more, STREAT doesn’t just serve meals, it empowers lives, helping its trainees build confidence, forge pathways to work, and find belonging along the way.
“Food brings people together, it grounds us, and is an entry level role that creates confidence and skills.”
STREAT is a pioneer of the social enterprise scene here in Australia. Can you tell us how it started?
In 2010, Rebecca Scott OAM and Dr Kate Barelle opened their arms and little street food card to STREAT’s first nine homeless young people. Since then, they’ve built a large portfolio of food social enterprises in Melbourne that have supported over 5000 vulnerable young people with a healthy self, home, and work.
How does the STREAT model work? How do you create impact?
STREAT began to fix homelessness - we learn early on that without a sense of belonging and purpose, everything else fails. Food brings people together, it grounds us, and is an entry level role that creates confidence and skills. Food is simply the vehicle that allows them to shine.
The definition of Mettle is to face adversity with spirit and resilience. Is there someone in your life that has inspired you with their Mettle?
Our young people are the most resilient incredible individuals who, when given a chance, can thrive. At STREAT, we see on a daily basis young people coming in with huge amounts of trauma, mental health issues (mostly undiagnosed), drug and alcohol issues - the list goes on. With a bit of encouragement, goal setting, boundary support, and any help they need to unravel their past - they are able to increase confidence, skills, look to the future, and break the cycle.
What legacy do you hope STREAT leaves in Melbourne’s hospitality and social enterprise scene?
For the past 15 years, Bec and Kate have worked tirelessly to change the trajectory of some incredible young people. Our proudest moments are to see young people return and say “STREAT changed my life”. Some are doing PHDs, studying social work, becoming teachers, getting apprenticeships in baking - all of them have been courageous and we feel lucky to have been part of the journey.
Looking forward, we’ve just completed our 2040 strategic plan revolving around Planet, People, Purpose and Place. Our planet work is gaining momentum with us winning the Tidy Towns award for our work at Queen Victoria Market Purpose Precinct. We are also playing a vital role as an aggregator of Systems Change, exploring how STREAT can play a role in supporting and growing as many social enterprises as we can across Australia. We’ve started our work with over 100 Social Enterprises selling their retail wares at QVM Purpose Precinct and are now mapping our 7 year journey to see how many social enterprises we can grow as we head towards an Olympic Games in Queensland.
STREAT won’t rest - every individual has the power to create change for good and we will continue to bring people on that journey by buying our products which are creating the profits to fund our work with Australia’s next generation.
What advice would you have for someone looking to start a social enterprise?
Have a solid business plan and make sure that is commercially viable before doing the impactful work. STREAT has some helpful tools and templates for anyone contemplating a social enterprise model - STREATWISE SKILLS. With 15 years of start up experience, we share our knowledge to support others to create as much social or environmental impact as they can.
self care the Mettle way - self care your way
self care the Mettle way - self care your way
Try out STREAT’s Maple Spiced Nuts in our Good Grub Box as well as gingerbread stars in our Feel Good Festive giftbox.
