The role of social enterprise in transforming the UK Food System

Overview and Policy Paper
June 2026

Summary

This briefing summarises evidence from the Social Enterprise Food Systems (SEFS) project (2022–2025) on how social enterprises are contributing to healthier, fairer and more sustainable local food systems, and it identifies policy actions to strengthen and scale their impact. 

The UK food system faces interconnected challenges: diet‑related ill health, food insecurity, widening inequalities, and environmental pressures, intensified by the cost‑of‑living crisis. Existing policy approaches have tended to rely on top‑down, technical or behavioural interventions, which often fail to engage communities that may benefit most from a transformed food system.

Evidence from the SEFS project shows that social enterprises offer a complementary and often more effective route to impact. Because they trade for social purpose and are embedded in local communities, social enterprises can deliver food‑related interventions that are trusted, culturally sensitive, and integrated with wider support for health, wellbeing and social care.

Further Reading