Offering coffee and hope

Sponsored
Martin and Cher Spratt from The Lime Box Cafe and Food Hub.

Elle Cecil

The Lime Box Cafe and Food Hub is a community food destination sponsored by local youth charity Hopeworks Community Solutions. Training young people in food service, catering, kitchen and food processing skills, they can also work towards formal industry credentials in preparation for entering the workforce.

Hopeworks Community Solutions opened its head office in 2016, has since trained over 600 young people and helped them to launch their careers. Following its opening in January 2021, the Lime Box Cafe has received strong support from locals in the region.

The cafe now offers premium barista coffee, gourmet loose leaf teas, fresh croissants, baked goods, cakes, slices and more, as well as running a providore stocked with local raw honey, seasonal and corporate gifts, and amazing hampers.

The gourmet gift hampers have been an astronomical success and are expected to be in extremely high demand over the lead up to the festive season.

The Lime Box Cafe and Food Hub is special in that it is a youth training organisation. All profits are returned into the project each year, and the business strives to keep its prices as low as possible to that everyone in the community can be included.

“Our core passion is training young people to be equipped to enter the workplace with proven employability skills in areas like food service, cooking, catering and food processing, which are all in high demand,” says cafe manager Martin Spratt.

In addition to training young people and serving the community, the Lime Box also supports local farmers via the Cardinia Community Food Hub. Each Wednesday, the team collects freshly harvested local farm produce, and offers home delivery in the local area to customers who register to the online platform.

The Lime Box Cafe is located at 18 Golden Green Street, Pakenham. For more information, visit www.thelimeboxcafe.com.au. Opening hours: Monday to Friday – 7am to 2pm. Trading will cease over Christmas, beginning on December 22, 2021 and ending on January 10, 2022. Saturday trading is also expected to recommence in 2022.