The Social Space is a Tea Bar, Cafe, Zero Waste Store and Nail Bar rolled into one. The Social Enterprise is perched within the picturesque shophouse district between Outram and Tanjong Pagar and to us, is a shining star in the Singapore green-minded community, with excellent food, coffee, products and even better values.
Environmental Impact 🌏
Single-use Plastic
None in sight. There are metal straws and wooden spoons available for in-house use and even the napkins section has a large sign encouraging customers to join them in the fight against unnecessary waste.
The store contains its own “Refillery” which allows you to bring your own containers and have them refilled with local offerings which are displayed on their Facebook page.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5
Vegetarian & Vegan Food
Their menu is entirely vegetarian and although it’s not exclusively labelled, the helpful staff told us that they could remove the eggs from most of their dishes to make them Vegan-friendly.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆ 4/5
Organic Food
All food served at the Social Space is 100% Organic. Superb.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5
Local Produce
Priding themselves on their ability to sell local produce, it is a haven for uncovering treats, specialities and produce from around Singapore and further afield. On discussion with the staff, they proudly announced to us that all their Bread comes from 100m up the road in an Organic Bakery.
Their 1ºC Tea and Cold Brew coffee is bottled and brewed by an elderly couple in their spare time – we recommend the Blue Pea Tea, it’s sensational. They will even take back the bottles in store for recycling when you’re done, but we kept them at home for use as homemade mouthwash containers.
In their “Refillery”, they sell Idocare – a local Singaporean eco-conscious cleaning products brand and although not exclusively from Singapore, we also enjoy their Natural Sodas from the Tapping Tapir who collaborate with the Malaysian Nature Society to protect endangered species across the water – the Lemonade & Lengkuas flavour has an irresistible tang.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5
Social Impact 😇
There are an endless supply of examples, some of which we’ve already mentioned to you, about how the Social Space is paving the way in socially conscious consumer behaviour.
Aside from the many products the place sells which help charities nearby, the store is a Social Enterprise by definition. One of the stand-out demonstrations of this for us is their policy of “providing a platform for individuals who face a higher barrier to employment opportunities due to circumstances beyond their control, and equipping them with varied skills sets that will allow them self-sufficiency in the long term”.
The Social Space employs those with mental and behavioural disabilities (particularly woman) to help them get into the work place. This no doubt comes with its own heap of challenges – particularly in the beauty industry where the barrier for entry can be especially high, and the Social Space should be applauded for its efforts here. This place deserves your support.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5
Conclusion
The more we understand about this store, the more we fell in love with it. An example of how to beautifully combine all the values which we should aspire to in one harmonious store. You would do well to spend a good few hours here, drinking their coffee, understanding their business model, and perusing their products.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5
Ecosystem 