Charity begins in the kitchen

For each lunch Two Good delivers, another is donated to someone in need. That’s the idea behind the Sydney-based social enterprise company founded by Rob Caslick and Cahill Flaherty.

Caslick said the idea came to them while running the Inside Out Organic Soup Kitchen at St Canice’s Kitchen in Kings Cross. “The soup kitchen was going really well and we thought, how do we scale what we’re doing without asking for money?”

The buy one, give one concept of Two Good was born—with the core aim to provide nourishing meals lovingly made to those who need it most.

The company collaborates with some of Australia’s best-known chefs to provide simple, bespoke meals using fresh, organic ingredients sourced from Cana Farm and grown in the rooftop kitchen garden of St Canice’s Church.

Produce from Cana Farm. Image: Two Good

In the past that’s meant a beef borscht soup from Automata’s Clayton Wells, a poached chicken, beetroot and sweet potato salad from Rockpool’s Neil Perry and a parsnip, red apple and cardamom soup from I Quit Sugar’s Sarah Wilson.

Ex-Berta chef and Carriageworks Lankan Filling Station, O Tama Carey is currently in the kitchen—and winter-warmers slow-cooked lamb and barley salad or leek, potato and sage soup to keep “the filthy cold weather” at bay the two menu choices for lunch.

Carey says, “I really admire Two Good and what they do. I think the idea of incorporating a social enterprise aspect into a business is very clever and important.”

Since launching in 2015, Two Good has delivered over 20,000 meals to domestic violence shelters and soup kitchens. It also employs women from the domestic refuges it donates to and makes a point of paying them above award wages.

There are partnerships with social enterprises The Bread and Butter Project and Cana Farm. Glass jars are sterilised and recycled to reduce the impact on the environment. And up to 80 per cent of all orders are delivered on bikes by delivery partner, Deliveroo.

It’s these good works, among many, that earned Rob Caslick the Good Food Guide Food for Good award last year.

In September, Two Good opened a Melbourne arm to deliver soup to the CBD. It’s currently only available for catering.

Hard at work in the kitchen. Image: Two Good

So how does Two Good work? Order a jar of soup or salad from the website and you’ll also be sending the same meal to one of ten shelters that include The Wayside Chapel, St Canice's Kitchen or Kilara’s Women’s Refuge. "As you're eating your lunch, the same lunch was given to a refuge that same day," Caslick says.

Chefs and food personalities who have thrown their support behind Two Good include Kylie Kwong, Neil Perry, Matt Moran, Sarah Wilson, Martin Benn, Greg Doyle, Jonathan Barthelmess, Mitch Orr and Peter Gilmore.

Sarah Wilson says, “The Two Good initiative…makes so much good sense. It’s all about spreading the real food message and proactively helps foodies to take their interest in sustainable eating beyond their own gobs!”

Two Good currently sends out around 500 soups over two days, but Caslick would love to be able to get that figure to 1500 over the whole week.

“Our goal is to be in every domestic violence refuge across the country. And we think we can get there by the end of next year.”

As well as lunch, do-gooders can also purchase on the website breakfast jars of muesli and granola and beauty care packs containing shampoo, conditioner, body lotion and body wash. Like the Two Good lunch model, for every beauty purchase made another is delivered to a mother living in a safe house.

More information:

twogood.com.au