Non-profit, neighbourhood kitchen, social restaurant +supermarket

Well, just like the title says: we are in the process of preparing to open a social restaurant and supermarket, with a neighbourhood kitchen in the off hours.

What does that mean?

A social restaurant: healthy, good quality food for low prices: as close to €5 per meal as possible, and always below €10 per meal. Open every day for dinner, later also for lunch. Staffed by volunteers and, in due time, also by students of the craft, as a stepping stone to a job in the food sector.

A social supermarket with 2 formulas:

1. you pay a low subscription fee, and can buy at cost (wholesale prices) or
2. you don't pay a subscription fee, and can buy at greatly reduced prices. The idea is simple: a supermarket that doesn't need to make a profit. In both cases, volunteers can be paid an "allowance" (a small amount of money (capped at ~€40 per day and ~€1700 per year) and/or a shopping allowance (to be used in-store).

A neighbourhood kitchen (cuisine de quartier / buurtkeuken): a place where people can get together and prepare meals together - with each other and for each other (you shop, prep, portion together and take the food you made home with you).

A subscription fee will generate a predictable income so we can pay our bills and stabilize our prizes, and also allow us to build up a modest financial buffer. Memberships will allow us to better track, analyse and predict demand. The inclusion of volunteers will increase social engagement and cohesion. Memberships do not imply any obligation of any kind, while they do give us the power to negotiate group deals and lower prices for guaranteed volumes, as well as reduce waste. No data will every be sold. Additionally, meals will be prepared and sold to generate an additional income stream. Lastly, food can be earned through volunteer work - and donated, if you want, or sold for the benefits of the non-profit, which in turn contributes to our goal.

Because we want to earn and keep your trust, our finances will be transparent and public, so you can see how much is coming in and what it's spent on. The same goes for suppliers, kitchen hygiene, food quality etc.

We're not asking for anything, other than ideas, constructive criticism and useful suggestions.

How will this be financed primarily? Subsidies, donations, grants and, lastly, crowdfunding (crowdfunding payments will be used as advance payments of membership fees or, to a somewhat limited degree, to pay for meals and/or shopping).

Who's getting better from this? You, the people. There will be some paid staff - you can't run a restaurant or supermarket on volunteers alone - but every way in which we can economize, will be used to either expand our activities so we can make society a little bit better still, or to lower our prices

With you, by you, for you.

The name that's being floated around for now is "Gursha", a word from the Ethiopian language Amharic, meaning "mouthful", that refers to the traditional act of feeding someone a small portion of food, often from a shared plate, placing it directly into their mouth. This gesture is a deep cultural symbol of affection, hospitality, social connection, and trust between loved ones, family, and friends.

(note: this is unrelated to the non-profit in my profile name)