Re-food

: a Portuguese case study of a community-based enterprise creating social capital through food redistribution

Abstract

This dissertation considers social entrepreneurship, particularly concepts of social value and social capital creation, by providing a case study of Re-food, a Portuguese independent non-profit organisation that takes excess food from its food partners and delivers it to people that need food assistance using its volunteers. Each Re-food centre operates at the level of a Portuguese parish and adopts a micro local model to serve its community. It analyses primary data obtained through the qualitative research method of semi-structured interviewing of Re-food’s partners, beneficiaries and volunteers, and other stakeholders, to provide triangulation and secondary (including unpublished) data supplied by the organisation. It considers three research questions: how a Re-food centre copes with variable food supply and demand; how Re-food finds people in need; and what Re-food does apart from providing food. The main findings are that Re-food faces several logistical issues and cannot achieve 100% food waste elimination (food); it creates social value through its work with its beneficiaries, including finding individuals from the “ashamed hunger” sector, fulfilling a basic social need, and allowing individuals to give time to help others (volunteers) and providing opportunity to express their social responsibility (partners). Re-food is found to be a Portuguese case study of a community-based enterprise creating social value by linking individuals and entities towards a common goal: the micro local elimination of food waste and hunger, thus creating social capital.

Date of Award	18 Feb 2016
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Susana Frazão Ferreira Fernandes Pinheiro (Supervisor)