The Larder

What The Larder does

The Larder is a registered Scottish charity (SC042554) and social enterprise headquartered at Kirkton House, 1 Allen Road, Livingston, that operates an integrated model combining community food services with vocational training to address poverty, food insecurity, and youth offending in West Lothian, Scotland. Founded in 2010 and led by Founder and CEO Angela Moohan, the organisation serves three primary beneficiary groups: food-insecure individuals and families across West Lothian; young people aged 10-24 at risk of or currently offending; and adults experiencing complex and multiple barriers to employment. The platform is delivered through dedicated programmes — Catalyst Kitchen (food poverty response), CashBack: Community Connections (trauma-informed youth services), and Power to Grow (adult employability) — supported by four physical venues: the Kirkton House Training Centre, The Larder Bakery/Cafe/Cook School (Brucefield Industrial Estate, Livingston), Café @ Blackburn, and Café @ Strathbrock (Broxburn).

The Larder's service technology is operational rather than digital. There is no proprietary software, no mobile application, no API surface, and no AI or machine learning deployment; the only disclosed integration is Mailchimp for newsletter and donor communications. The "platform" is physical and human-delivered: cafes serve three-course community meals for £5 and hot soup for £1 (described as the cheapest in West Lothian), community shops recover and resell surplus groceries, and the cafés double as real-world training workplaces where beneficiaries acquire food service and employability skills under supervision. Certifications include Living Wage Employer, Disability Confident Employer, Supporting Equality in Scotland (SES), and UNCRC compliance for youth services. The organisation is small, with 35 employees as currently reported.

Revenue is mixed and grant-dependent. Trading income comes from subsidised café meals, hot soup, and community shop transactions. Grants and contracts flow primarily from the Scottish Government's CashBack programme (youth services) and West Lothian Council's Empowering Communities Fund (Catalyst Kitchen), with a tail of corporate charitable contributions from Arnold Clark, Scotmid, Leeds Building Society Foundation, ASDA Foundation, and The Albert Hunt Trust, alongside individual donations solicited via structured campaigns (e.g., 'A Place at the Table', December 2025). The go-to-market is community-led: beneficiaries are reached through the physical cafés, referral partner agencies, families, self-referral, and active social media storytelling (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X). Cumulative reported impact since 2020 includes 250,000+ meals delivered, 1,000+ people supported, and 500+ individuals equipped with new skills in the most recent reporting year.

Name

The Larder

Legal name

The Larder

Website

https://thelarder.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Larder is a West Lothian-based Scottish charity and social enterprise that operates community cafes, food poverty programmes, and vocational training to tackle poverty, food insecurity, and youth offending among disadvantaged children, young people, and adults in Scotland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Enterprise Community Services

NAICS

Community Food Services (624210), Cafeterias, Grill Buffets, and Buffets (722514), Food Service Contractors (72231)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Food Assistance & Food Banks (BPAGAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

In-House Cafeteria Operations & Meal Preparation (EDAEAEAA)

Keywords

• Food poverty services
• Vocational training programmes
• Community cafe operations
• Social enterprise charity
• Youth offending support

Headquarters

HQ city

Livingston, West Lothian

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Community Meals & Cafe Services: Operating cafes that serve meals at subsidised rates (£5 for 3-course community meals, £1 hot soup) while providing training opportunities for disadvantaged individuals
2. Community Shop: Low-cost groceries and surplus food distribution through community shops at cafes, supporting food security while generating operational revenue
3. Training Programmes: Funded training programmes for young people and adults experiencing barriers, funded by government initiatives including Scottish Government's CashBack programme

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Larder is a Scottish charity and social enterprise that tackles poverty and food insecurity in West Lothian by combining community food services (cafés, community meals, community shops with low-cost and surplus groceries) with vocational training programmes (Power to Grow, CashBack: Community Connections) for disadvantaged young people and adults. It operates three café locations and a training centre, serving subsidised meals, providing workplace skills experience, and delivering trauma-informed support to help individuals transition from surviving to thriving.

Product overview

The Larder is a social enterprise operating a platform of interconnected services focused on tackling poverty and food insecurity in West Lothian, Scotland. The organization combines community food services (Catalyst Kitchen, Community Meals, Community Shop) with training and youth support programmes (CashBack: Community Connections, Power to Grow). The enterprise operates through multiple cafe locations (Bakery/Cafe/Cook School, Café @ Blackburn, Café @ Strathbrock) and a training centre (Kirkton House), creating both service delivery points and training opportunities for disadvantaged individuals. The model generates social impact while creating pathways to employment and independence.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Catalyst Kitchen: A project providing dignified responses to food insecurity, offering community meals, community shops, and hot soup services across West Lothian.
• CashBack: Community Connections

Products and services

• Catalyst Kitchen

Quantifiable outcome

• 500+ individuals equipped with new skills leading to positive change in the past year
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• West Lothian CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational partner in CashBack Community Connections programme, providing qualifications and pathways for young people
• Youth Action ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerExpert partner providing trauma-informed youth services as part of the wraparound service for CashBack Community Connections
• Project ScotlandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerExpert partner in CashBack Community Connections, supporting young people through mentoring and volunteering opportunities

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• FareShare UK: UK-wide surplus food redistribution charity that supplies community food programmes like The Larder's Community Shop; comparable on food-as-social-impact mission and West Lothian-relevant regional operation (FareShare Scotland), though FareShare is upstream wholesaler rather than direct meal delivery.
• Trussell Trust Foodbank Network: UK's largest food-bank charity network — operates the dominant emergency food parcel model that The Larder's community meals and community shop complement or substitute for. Comparable mission (tackling food poverty) and government funding interface, but Trussell operates at national-network scale.

Direct peers

• The Real Junk Food Project: Social enterprise network intercepting surplus food to serve pay-as-you-feel community meals — directly comparable to The Larder's £5 community meals and surplus-food community shop (Catalyst Kitchen). Focuses on food waste rather than training, but same food-insecurity response.
• The Bread and Butter Thing: UK community food charity operating low-cost membership food shops and surplus food redistribution in low-income areas — direct counterpart to The Larder's Community Shop and community meals, though it operates at significantly greater scale across the north of England and Midlands.
• FoodCycle: UK charity that combines surplus-food collection with community meals and volunteer-driven dining — same "dignified food + community impact" model as The Larder's Catalyst Kitchen. Highly comparable mission, though FoodCycle operates on a national volunteer scale vs The Larder's paid training focus.
• Transform Training (formerly Move On): Scottish social enterprise providing vocational training and second-chance employment for disadvantaged adults, including food-sector training (cookery, hospitality) — direct comparison on the "training + food-skills for excluded groups" model central to The Larder.

Regional players

• North Hub: West Lothian-area community support organisation providing training and food/poverty alleviation services — directly overlapping beneficiary pool and competing for similar Scottish Government and council grant funding as The Larder.
• FareShare Scotland: Scottish arm of FareShare that supplies surplus food to community organisations including The Larder — a regional peer operating across Scotland with comparable surplus-food redistribution, but at greater scale and working through intermediary partners.
• Mass Meal Programs / Lothian Mass Meal Initiative: Comparable regional community-meal/social-food charity operating in the Lothians area; overlapping geography and beneficiary base with The Larder, with similar mix of community meals and social-support referrals.

Emerging players

• Project Scotland: Scottish charity supporting disadvantaged young people through mentoring and volunteering — listed as a core delivery partner of The Larder's CashBack: Community Connections programme. Same beneficiary age group (10-24) and similar public-sector funding interface, but focused on personal development rather than food/training.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/lardertraining
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCi8VWEoPr00LhulWvLJR7yA
• Facebookfacebook.com/LarderTraining
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lardertraining
• Instagraminstagram.com/thelarderbakery

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 The Larder