Reef Catering

Reef Catering is a social enterprise that uses food to create opportunity. We work with women in rural communities to turn skills they have long used at home, often without pay, into real income through catering and food production. By helping women make money from their kitchens, Reef supports greater financial independence, which can open the door to more choice and personal freedom. Reef addresses three connected social and environmental challenges. First, although women are often stereotyped as belonging in the kitchen, the professional culinary industry remains largely male-dominated. Globally, around 75% of chefs are men and only 25% are women. Reef works to empower women to take pride in their skills and professionalize work they have long done for free. Second, women in rural areas often face limited access to decent job opportunities because of distance, as well as social and cultural barriers. At the same time, many NGOs spend large food budgets without creating wider social or environmental value. Reef helps redirect this spending into opportunities that support women’s livelihoods and local communities. Third, the catering sector generates significant organic and plastic waste. Reef aims to reduce this by building more circular practices, including donating clean leftover food, using more eco-friendly materials and methods, and training women on environmentally responsible kitchen practices. Join us to expand our impact