Social Bite has secured funding from the Hunter Foundation to expand its chain of three sandwich shops, two of which are in Edinburgh and one is in Glasgow.
Social Bite is one of a new breed of social business. All of its profits are donated to three charities: Shelter Scotland, an eye care hospital in Bangladesh and a small business loans project in Malawi.
A quarter of its employees are homeless people, including several former Big Issue vendors, and they operate the 'suspended food' system – where customers pay for a hot meal or coffee that can then be collected at any time by those in need.
Founded by 26 year-old Josh Littlejohn, the Social Bite sells handmade and fresh sandwiches, baguettes, wraps, soups, salads, and organic coffee through its retail shops and by delivering to offices.