Raw Carrot opens in Winnipeg, offering employment for people with disabilities

The Raw Carrot, a new social franchise, has opened in Winnipeg, run by Hope Centre Ministries.

They make small-batch gourmet soups for purchase, and offer employment opportunities for people who face barriers in the workforce due to mental illness or disabilities.

“It’s not profit-driven, it’s to fill the social need that’s there rather than the profit need,” said Shellie Power, the executive director of Hope Centre Ministries.

“What this is, is its sustainable part-time work, also just the understanding, caring workplace that’s willing to make adjustments and accommodations for specific needs at specific times is something that’s setting us a little bit apart.”

Kieran Schellenberg, an employee with Raw Carrot, says, “It’s great to have the stability of a thing that you’re doing regularly and being able to interact with community, and be employed, which is nice.”

The raw carrot offers a variety of homemade soups, made at a commercial kitchen. For now, they don’t have a brick-and-mortar shop, but instead will be doing a series of pop-ups to get their product out.

“We are here at the Forks for this weekend only to kind of introduce ourselves to Winnipeg. Following here, we’ll be doing different pop-ups at different locations, and our website is going to keep that up to date.  We’re also working on a couple of retail partnerships, and we can’t wait to be making those announcements soon, and where people can find us in the shelves of a few local vendors,” said Power.