Skuhna

The project

Skuhna is a social enterprise that runs a restaurant providing authentic food from Africa, Asia and South America. Currently, it is the only migrant restaurant in Slovenia that offers food from all around the world in one location. People with different statuses (asylum seekers, refugees, undocumented migrants, citizens) have the opportunity to work in Skuhna. During the project implementation, 8 migrants were provided with training mainly in culinary work, of whom 6 were later employed within the programme. After securing a space to rent and renovation works, Skuhna opened a restaurant and started a catering service and cooking workshops. Each day of the week Skuhna offered different cuisine prepared by migrants.   

The practice is considered highly relevant because it creates work opportunities for migrants with limited employability due to poor knowledge of Slovene language, cultural barriers, weak social network and prejudices. This often leads to low-paid employment in irregular settings under dangerous and difficult working conditions. The Skuhna project, guided by the guidelines of social entrepreneurship, provides a safe opportunity for them to enter the labor market, further develop their skills, make new acquaintances, and at the same time build connections with the local community.  

The impact of the good practice

The main goals of the project were to increase the employability of migrants through culinary work and to bridge the understanding gap between migrants and locals who live in Slovenia through food and intercultural education. Apart from professional development, the project aimed to provide support and training at workplace which enabled overall growth and improvement of migrants. The participants took part in a set of group and individual trainings to professionalize their knowledge, which they can later pass on to others joining the project or by organizing their own cooking workshops. Based on individual needs, the project offered individual cultural or language courses to facilitate the participants’ integration into Slovenian society. Furthermore, a “small school of marketing” was organized and equipped participants with skills needed to successfully advertise their experiences in the labor market. During the development of the project, participants also had the opportunity to obtain different certificates required for work in the field of food preparation. Today Skuhna operates as a social business. Profits are reinvested into the business.