Meet Pranav, and his social enterprise: NEMI Teas, which launched 6 years ago. NEMI Teas is a specialist London-based tea company, that values sustainability and social impact just as much as we do at Fooditude!
Not only are NEMI Teas products organic and 100% fair trade certified, but their entire product is also plastic-free and fully compostable. Yes, you read right! From their wood pulp tea envelopes to their non-GMO sugarcane tea bags, NEMI Teas products are going above and beyond to protect the planet. But that’s not all…
Pranav witnessed the ongoing struggle that London’s refugee community had in trying to find work in the UK, so on the back of NEMI Teas decided to launch a training programme that provides both training and employment to refugees living in London. Thus far, he has helped over 30 refugees gain professional work experience, contributing to their ability to become trained hospitality professionals.
Pranav places numerous refugees at partner cafes that NEMI Teas supplies. Recently, Pranav partnered with The Hotel School at The Goring Hotel to provide hospitality training and then employment for newly arrived refugees in London. Pranav even sourced funding to launch his very own cafe: TRAMPOLINE, which shares the same vision as NEMI Teas, providing employment opportunities for refugees who complete the training programme. In fact, the current cafe Manager, Ashkan, came through this training programme and now calls the shots! Isn’t that Tea-riffic?
But Pranav wants to do more… His vision to open more cafes around London is founded on his wish to continuously support as many refugees as possible, helping them take back their independence and get their lives back on track.
Pranav continues to search for other businesses that share an appreciation for sustainability and positive social impact, forming relationships so that his network of employment partners grows to place even more refugees into employment. And that’s exactly what we at Fooditude hope to achieve!
We have always believed in giving back to the community we operate in and have much to show for it! Fooditude have taken the social mobility pledge to showcase our commitment to social mobility in outreach, access, and recruitment, ensuring individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds have a level playing field in our hiring process. Did you know we won Planet Mark’s community engagement award for our emergency response kitchen in 2020? During lockdown, we provided 43,000 meals for vulnerable people in Southwark through our community networks. We also regularly work with Centrepoint to provide food experiences and networking opportunities for homeless youth.
At Fooditude, we value positive societal impact, and these initiatives are just a few examples of our commitment to community. That’s why we are incredibly excited to be working with Pranav and hope to provide numerous placement and employment opportunities for individuals training in his programme.
Written by Safena Yvanovich