The Sustraiak Catering project was installed in the gaztetxe Kutza III of Bilbao. The project began in 2009 in the occupied building of the Rekalde neighborhood, specifically around the heat of the kitchen in the area. Self-management is key and Kukutza fires are spaces for experimentation, vegetarian cooking. This space, among other things, offered them the possibility of forming a group, learning, developing and sharing knowledge; and on the contrary, they knew how to contribute a lot to the project, feeding it, both in the metaphorical sense and in the literal sense of the word: they began cooking meals with the surplus food accumulated in the neighborhood, serving in Kukutza what they did in the kitchen.

The eviction of Kukutza in September 2011 ended this stage strongly. However, the two members of the couple held the coup and decided to take forward the project they had seen born in the gaztetxe. “From the illusion, anger and commitment, we decided to continue cooking and bringing alternative food closer to groups and associations,” they say. In this new stage, they are increasingly approaching agri-ecology and food sovereignty, and explain that this approach directly influenced their way of life and work: “That transformation and evolution encouraged us to create a stronger project.” Thus, in 2015 they gave their name and be the project that had been shaping up until then: Sustraiak, a vegetarian catering service offering nearby and seasonal agro-ecological products. The member of Sustraiak Garbi assured that with this step "a wager on dreamed self-employment" was made.

After three years, in 2018, the project was set up as a Small Cooperative Society, and in 2019 they decided to expand the working group and opened its doors to a new member.

Food sovereignty at the hand of social action

Throughout this time, the group has not only been growing in number of members. The catering project has also been broadening its vision and defining objectives that go beyond food. Currently, the social sphere is another of the axes of the project, and social action is carried out through food.

In 2020 they decided to become a sociolaboral insertion cooperative, giving way to the renewed Catering Sustraiak. It was not a day to day election, but a result of collaboration with the feminist cooperative Errotik. In fact, in 2019 Errotik launched the pilot project of social intervention “Outcome”, through which creative cooking sessions were held throughout Bizkaia with the objective of promoting the process of personal and collective empowerment of ten migrant women in vulnerable situations. In some of these sessions, the Sustraiak team took care of the world of cooking, and through this collaboration, synergy emerged between the two cooperatives until both projects were merged. Currently, the work team is composed of six women from different backgrounds and backgrounds.

Project of different branches

Sustraiak Catering is a social activity that, in addition to the sociolaboral, includes others. Being one of its initial objectives to make known to people a “vegetarian, artisanal and respectful” diet, one of the branches of the project is training. It has a wide list of workshops and courses, some monographs (on vegetable proteins, on gluten-free cooking, etc.) and others that allow you to go into the kitchen of each station. They also offer workshops in collaboration with other projects that allow cooking with plants or algae in the forest or learning to make pasta.

Catering is the other big branch of Sustraiak. On the one hand, they offer the service of “home cooker”, through which they come to cook the food where the client requests it. This service is designed to prepare meals in meeting or course contexts. On the other hand, a store has recently been opened in the bilbaíno district of Santutxu, on Masustegi Street 2.ean. All those who come to the store will have available pre-cooked products (also the web menu www.sustraiakcatering.com can be ordered on the internet), as well as products and preserves from nearby producers.

Nearby producer network at the base

The range of products that can be found on the store shelves reflects the network of nearby producers located at the Sustraiak Catering base. The charanela pasta, the Errotik cheese, the Serrabe bread, the beers of the TXG Txorierri, the Candido Besa and Compañía Arrieta wines, the Ekolo preserves, the products of the Vista Alegre and Mimintzepe farmhouses, and the rice, flour and legumes of the El Alcaván project can be found in some of the products.

The conscious choice is to sell products from nearby producers and cook with them. “By supporting small local producers, we guarantee the right to food sovereignty,” they explained. Looking to the future, they say that they intend to continue to expand this network.