What Edinburgh Community Food does

Edinburgh Community Food Ltd (ECF) is a non-profit social enterprise founded in 1996 and headquartered at 22 Tennant Street, Edinburgh, Scotland. The organisation works to address food poverty and improve nutrition across Edinburgh through fruit and vegetable box schemes priced at £10-£25, REHIS-certified nutrition training courses, a membership programme, and donations/fundraising activity. ECF supports a network of 29 community cafés, 4 locality hubs, and runs the Growing to Love schools programme (30 schools) and the Food Power initiative (420 households), distributing approximately 12,000 meals in its catchment area. The operation is staffed by 17 employees including registered dietitians and nutritionists.

ECF is structured as a Scottish registered charity (SC 024980) and private company (SC 166876), with revenue generated from produce box sales, training fees, memberships, and grants/donations. It maintains institutional partnerships with City of Edinburgh Council (since 2017) and NHS Lothian, and collaborates with Veg Power UK on the Growing to Love programme. The organisation holds Sustainable Food Places Silver accreditation and is a Living Wage employer.

During 2024-2025 ECF executed a series of operational expansions: an electric delivery van (February 2024), new Small and Medium Box SKUs (August 2024), a Tuk Tuk mobile market vehicle and weekly Market Place in Leith (October 2024), and the Umbrella Hubs initiative (May 2025). These moves broaden ECF's distribution footprint, diversify its product offering, and signal a deliberate scaling of community food infrastructure within Edinburgh.

Name

Edinburgh Community Food

Legal name

Edinburgh Community Food Ltd

Website

https://edinburghcommunityfood.org.uk

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Edinburgh Community Food is a non-profit social enterprise founded in 1996 that tackles food poverty in Edinburgh through produce boxes, nutrition training, and a network of community cafés and locality hubs serving households, schools, and vulnerable communities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Food Services

NAICS

Community Food Services (62421), Mobile Food Services (722330)

SIC

Retail-Food Stores (5400), Miscellaneous Food Preparations & Kindred Products (2090)

akta.pro primary industry

Food Assistance & Food Banks (BPAGAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Farm-to-Consumer Produce Boxes / CSA Delivery (AFAIANAC)

Keywords

• Community food programmes
• Fruit and vegetable boxes
• Nutrition education training
• Holiday hunger relief
• Social enterprise charity

Headquarters

HQ city

Edinburgh

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Fruit and Vegetable Box Sales: Sale of fresh fruit and vegetable boxes at various price points (£10-£25) delivered within Edinburgh. Includes standard, organic, and local varieties.
2. Donations and Fundraising: Charitable donations from public and institutional funders to support food poverty work, holiday hunger programmes, and community food initiatives.
3. Training Courses: REHIS certificated training courses including Food Hygiene, Food & Health, Eating Well for Older People, and Allergy Awareness.
4. Membership Programme: Organisation membership scheme offering benefits to supporters and community members.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Edinburgh Community Food is a Scottish charity and social enterprise that sells fresh fruit and vegetable boxes in multiple sizes (from £10 up to £25) with home delivery within Edinburgh four days a week, and operates a weekly market stall in Leith. The organisation delivers community food programmes including the Discover! holiday hunger initiative with City of Edinburgh Council, the Edinburgh Community Cafe Network of 29 cafes in partnership with NHS Lothian, and the Growing to Love school project with Veg Power UK. It also provides REHIS-accredited nutrition and food hygiene training courses, plus memberships and donation-driven food parcel support for families facing food insecurity.

Product overview

Edinburgh Community Food is a charity and social enterprise offering a range of food products and community programs. Core offerings include fruit and vegetable boxes in various sizes (£10, £15, £25 local and organic options), the Best Start Foods Box for families, and Take & Make DIY Meals. The organization runs community programs including the Edinburgh Community Cafe Network, the Discover! holiday hunger program, Growing to Love school project, and the Healthy Little Foodies initiative. Training services include REHIS certificated courses and the Fussy Eaters Workshop. Home deliveries are available within Edinburgh four days a week.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Edinburgh Community Cafe Network: A network bringing community cafes together to share skills, training and knowledge, increasing their impact within communities.
• Discover!
• Growing to Love

Products and services

• £10 Fruit & Veg Box Fruit and vegetable box priced at £10, suitable for smaller households, with contents varying weekly based on seasonal availability and delivered within Edinburgh (excluding East, West or Midlothian).
• £15 Fruit & Veg Box Fruit and vegetable box priced at £15 for smaller households, with weekly varying, seasonally sourced contents delivered within Edinburgh.
• Standard £25 Fruit & Veg Box (Home Delivery) Standard-sized fresh fruit and vegetable box at £25 with free home delivery within Edinburgh four days a week; contents vary seasonally.
• Best Start Foods Box Monthly food box for Best Start Foods card recipients, filled with fresh eggs, milk, fruits, vegetables and a Take & Make bag up to the £21.20 monthly allowance, plus extra store cupboard ingredients, delivered to the door.
• Organic Fruit & Veg Box Organic fruit and vegetable boxes available in £15 or £25 sizes, filled with responsibly grown, chemical-free produce varying seasonally.
• Local Fruit & Vegetable Box A £20 box of produce grown, harvested or produced by local Scottish suppliers including Jock Tamson's Gairden and Blacketyside Farm in Fife.
• Take & Make DIY Meals DIY Meal Packs that provide the ingredients required to make nutritious meals at home, offered as a pay-it-forward product supporting low-cost meal kit provision.
• REHIS Training Courses REHIS certificated training courses covering Food Hygiene, Food & Health, Food and Health for Carers of Adults with a Learning Disability, Eating Well for Older People, and Allergy Awareness, available to individuals, businesses and third sector organisations.
• Discover! Holiday Hunger Programme Holiday hunger programme delivered in partnership with City of Edinburgh Council since 2017, providing food boxes and cooking activities to referred children and families across Edinburgh during school holidays.
• Growing to Love School Project Vegetable growing and food education project delivered in partnership with Veg Power UK across 30 Edinburgh schools, engaging children in growing and eating vegetables.
• Edinburgh Community Cafe Network A network of 29 community-led cafes across Edinburgh supported with NHS Lothian, providing shared skills, training, branding, and breastfeeding-friendly accreditation to increase community impact.
• Fussy Eaters Workshop Online Zoom workshop for parents and carers offering practical tips on managing fussy eating behaviours in children aged 1-6 years.
• Healthy Little Foodies Sessions run by the Food and Health Development team helping families learn how to feed babies, toddlers and young children a healthy diet.
• Eat Well for Oral Health Project in collaboration with LINKnet Mentoring to improve child, family and targeted communities' oral health by sharing diet and nutrition knowledge and enhancing cooking skills.
• Membership Programme Membership scheme for supporters and community members providing benefits tied to the work of Edinburgh Community Food, including voting rights and updates.
• Weekly Fruit & Veg Market Place (Leith) Physical retail market stall open weekly at the Edinburgh Community Food warehouse on Wednesdays and Thursdays 9am-1pm at 22 Tennant Street, Leith, selling fresh, local and organically grown produce to walk-in shoppers.
• Tuk Tuk Mobile Food Unit Pop-up mobile food preparation and play space operated by Edinburgh Community Food to deliver outreach cooking and nutrition activities at schools, nurseries, community centres, hospitals, workplaces and community cafes across Edinburgh.

Quantifiable outcome

• 95% of families report Discover! has saved them money
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• City of Edinburgh Council (CEC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Partnership since 2017 to deliver Discover! holiday hunger programme. CEC provides funding and referral coordination; ECF delivers food boxes, cooking activities and nutrition education to referred families across Edinburgh during all school holidays.
• NHS LothiancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNHS Lothian supports and facilitates the Edinburgh Community Cafe Network. Part of NHS Lothian project to promote 'Breastfeeding Friendly' spaces in community venues across Edinburgh.
• Veg Power UKcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to deliver Growing to Love (formerly Grow Strong) project across 30 Edinburgh schools, getting children interested in growing and eating vegetables.
• Nourish ScotlandminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with Nourish and Forth Environment Link on Local Food Champions project enabling lower-income families to access locally produced food through 10-week programme.
• Forth Environment LinkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership through Pockets and Prospects fund to deliver Local Food Champions programme with food boxes delivered by cargo bike volunteers.
• Pilton Equalities Project (PEPs)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerDelivery partner for Discover! programme, assisting with food box distribution to referred families in North Edinburgh.
• LCTS (Leith Citadel Tenants)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCommunity partner assisting with delivery of Discover! food boxes during school holidays.
• The Willow ProjectminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides food support for women involved in the criminal justice system through Theodora Hidalgo and Louise Cairns delivering nutritional support and cooking groups.
• Jock Tamson's GairdencoreTechnology or IntegrationLocal growing space at Duddingston Loch providing ECF with locally grown garlic, salad leaves and seasonal fruit and veg included in fruit & vegetable boxes.
• Blacketyside FarmcoreTechnology or IntegrationFife-based soft fruit farm (200+ acres) providing strawberries and raspberries. ECF customers' favourite product. Part of local box sourcing.
• Edible EdinburghcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCity-wide food partnership that Edinburgh Community Food is part of, working to build sustainable food approaches. Edinburgh achieved Silver status through this partnership.
• Big House Project (Fife)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to provide local organisations, community cafes, charities, schools, criminal justice services and health & social work teams with essential items for children and families through Multibank initiative.
• LINKnet MentoringminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Eat Well for Oral Health project designed to improve oral health in targeted communities through nutrition and cooking skills.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• The Food Foundation: UK food policy charity addressing the root causes of food insecurity and advocating for healthier sustainable food systems. Comparable to ECF's Edible Edinburgh partnership work and food systems approach at national policy level.
• The Trussell Trust: UK's largest food bank network operating 1,400+ food banks. Comparable to ECF in addressing food poverty and food parcel distribution, though at vastly larger scale and with a more emergency-focused rather than holistic nutrition model.
• Riverford Organic Farmers: UK organic vegetable box delivery company and farm-to-consumer pioneer. Comparable to ECF's fruit and veg box delivery model and organic sourcing approach, but operating as a commercial enterprise at national scale rather than a community charity.

Regional players

• Nourish Scotland: Scottish food policy and advocacy charity partnered with ECF on the Local Food Champions project. Comparable as a Scotland-based food systems organisation addressing food security and nutrition policy, though operating at policy level rather than direct food distribution.
• FareShare Glasgow & the West of Scotland: Scottish regional arm of FareShare redistributing surplus food across Glasgow and West Scotland. Comparable regional food distribution and community food model to ECF but operating across a different Scottish geography.
• City Harvest London: London-based food redistribution charity collecting surplus food and delivering to community organisations. Comparable mission to ECF's food distribution work but geographically focused on London rather than Edinburgh/Scotland.

Direct peers

• The Bread and Butter Thing: UK social enterprise running affordable grocery clubs in communities facing food insecurity, with mobile distribution hubs. Comparable operating model to ECF's mobile fruit & veg boxes and community cafe network serving low-income families.
• FareShare UK: UK-wide charity redistributing surplus food to community organisations, operating food hubs across the UK. Directly comparable to ECF's food distribution and community food model at national scale, though focused on surplus rather than direct retail.
• Veg Power UK: Veg-focused charity and ECF's strategic partner on the Growing to Love school project. Comparable in promoting vegetable consumption among children through education, with aligned school-based engagement across the UK.
• FoodCycle: UK charity combining surplus food with community volunteers to provide free meals, addressing food poverty and social isolation. Comparable to ECF in combining food access with nutrition education and community-building across multiple UK locations.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/EdinComFood
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCqV6lQsN8YoQyaoO_8j4T0w?view_as=subscriber
• Facebookfacebook.com/EdinComFood
• Instagraminstagram.com/edincomfood
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/edinburgh-community-food

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Edinburgh Community Food