Retraining And Rebuilding With Beyond Food
To celebrate the launch of Inner Strength, our limited edition winter espresso supporting incredible local partners like Beyond Food, we caught up with their team to chat about the power of the professional kitchen, rebuilding lives through hospitality, and how food can be a catalyst for real change.
For the past few years, we've been running barista training sessions with Beyond Food to give people who have faced trauma, addiction or poor mental health a step back into employment. We couldn't be prouder to support their misson.
If you were introducing Beyond Food to a total stranger over a cup of coffee, how would you sum up what you’re all about?
Beyond Food fills an important gap between a charity and a commercial company—something known as a social enterprise.
On one hand, we deliver exceptional events and catering services for businesses, where 100% of the profits go directly back into the life-changing work we do. On the other hand, we support people whose lives have unravelled, helping them rebuild through structured programmes, dedicated training, and real-world work experience.
The kitchen is a powerful place—a crucible of change. The rigour, structure, and discipline empower people to build valuable skills and transform their lives. When exceptional hospitality and social impact come together, you get the perfect recipe for lasting change.
Can you walk us through the Fresh Life programme, and share a moment that sums up why it matters?
Fresh Life is our three-week adult training programme designed for individuals whose lives have unravelled, giving them the confidence, tools, and opportunity to rebuild their future.
We start with sessions that address the root causes of their challenges, helping reframe how they see themselves and what’s possible ahead. From there, we explore their relationship with food while teaching fundamental culinary techniques and practical skills they can take straight into the kitchen.
Why does it matter? Because lives can unravel for many complex reasons—homelessness, mental health struggles, poverty, or the justice system. What we offer is both an arm around the shoulder and a poke in the ribs: warm support paired with the structure needed to make meaningful changes. We don’t raise funds to maintain dependency; we work to build independence. Over 3,000 people have joined our programmes so far, and more than 86% of graduates remain in sustained employment one year later.
What is the biggest challenge your chefs, trainers, and students are navigating right now?
The cost-of-living crisis—or what we prefer to call the cost-of-greed crisis—is hitting everyone and everything right now.
Our participants face immense pressure finding work that pays enough to truly live on, while the cost of ingredients and kitchen essentials continues to climb week by week. It forces us to be creative and adaptable just to make the numbers balance.
The hospitality sector remains a brilliant, vibrant industry to build a career in, but the financial squeeze across every level of the system is undeniable right now.
How does having Extract’s support behind you directly impact your students on a daily basis?
Our purposeful partnership with Extract creates tangible change across so many parts of our mission.
Every single pound received through the Grounds Up charity collective feeds straight back into frontline delivery. That means funding work experience uniforms, providing nourishing hot meals for young people facing food insecurity, running one-on-one mentoring sessions, and putting students through structured programmes.
Bringing artisanal coffee and hands-on barista training into their learning journey adds immense value, equipping our beneficiaries with versatile, high-demand skills right across modern hospitality.
Outside of making a donation, what are the best ways people and businesses can back your work?
Book with us and help spread the word.
Next year, we’re opening the ‘Beyond Food Enriching Kitchen’—a striking private events space in the heart of the city designed for corporate dining, celebrations, and unforgettable experiences. It combines exceptional service, seasonal British menus, and direct social impact under one roof. Whether it’s an awards evening, wedding reception, product launch, or team dinner, booking with us makes a difference.
Every penny of profit goes straight into our purposeful training programmes. Outside of bookings, sharing our story, championing our cause, or connecting someone who could benefit from our training helps us reach more people who need that springboard.
If you could grab a coffee with literally anyone, past or present, who are you inviting and what are you asking them?
Miley Cyrus.
We admire her strength, creative passion, and fearlessly positive energy—she’s a modern icon who unapologetically owns who she is.
We’d brew her our house special, a Cinnamon Mocha, and ask straight away if she needs a PA! And if not: “Would you consider funding our cafe so we can keep serving free, wholesome food to the most vulnerable members of our community?”
Want to discover more about the life-changing hospitality training Beyond Food provides? Head to beyondfood.org.uk to check out their programmes and event venues. You can also back their work directly by grabbing a bag of Inner Strength, with £1 from every bag sold supporting our grassroots community partners.