'Pizza with purpose': Abled Kitchen brings a pop-up pizza shop to Launceston this weekend

In partnership with Sandy's Sourdough, FermenTasmania and St. Giles, the social enterprise pizza project has provided adults with autism and sensory disabilities hands-on training opportunities in hospitality over the past 12 months.

The event will be the culmination of training for 13 participants, who will serve up vegetarian, margherita, and wallaby salami options, with a focus on using local produce.

Over the course of the program, the participants have learned about fermentation and baking, but Abled Kitchen coordinator and FermenTasmasania communications manager LT Brown said it was time to take the next step.

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"All of the skills that they've learnt are going to be the building blocks for Saturday when we offer a takeaway, pop-up pizza shop to the public out of Sandy Sourdough," she said.

She said the pilot program was important for providing training and employment opportunities for people who people with disabilities.

"It provides confidence building first of all," Ms Brown said.

"But it also gives them an opportunity to explore potential employment pathways, and see if it's something they'd like to do".

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Ms Brown said the program would help create a skilled "surge workforce" that could help fill employment gaps in Launceston, or provide extra support during peak seasons.

"We want to be able to create a workforce that you can tap into while providing new job opportunities in the future," she said.

After selling out at a previous pizza pop-up last April, the Abled Kitchen team are hoping to see the same enthusiasm from the Launceston community a second time round.

However, with the pilot program wrapping up, she said the pathway forward would take some time to gauge.

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"We're gonna take a break for the rest of the year and have a lot of big conversations and hopefully lay out a permanent location for this program," Ms Brown said.

"Ultimately we want to create a social enterprise bakery that people can come to experience if they want to, or they can come to learn. It's about creating a more inclusive culture".

Abled Kitchen has been supported by the Tasmanian Community Fund and St Gile's Niche Market social enterprise.

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