Cool Food Pro supports caterers to make changes to how they source ingredients and plan menus, to help them reduce their impact on the environment.
The Cool Food Pro tool calculates a caterers environmental impact and then suggests ways that they can make positive changes. By being part of Cool Food Pro, caterers will have access to helpful information and tips. The library of resources includes good practice guides, sustainable recipes and exclusive communications materials to celebrate their achievements with customers.
The event offered attendees the chance to hear from expert speakers on carbon reduction in catering, network with caterers to share sustainable working practices and the opportunity to learn more about climate-friendly menus through practical workshops. At the same time as the event in the UK, a similar seminar French version was held so they could also celebrate the achievements with their catering sites.
Introduction
At the event attendees were handed a leaflet that contained ten pledges for the caterers to consider implanting at work. The pledges included introducing more vegetarian meals, reducing the meat they serve in half, committing to dairy-free days, reducing food waste and buying food that is organic.
Total carbon savings made by caterers so far (96,265 Kg CO2):
- Less & better meat= 64%
- Food & plastic waste= 27%
- Going organic= 6%
- Using local food= 2%
- Using seasonal produce= 1%
The total savings are equivalent to the following: 442,933Km travelled in a medium sized car, 3,3669 Smartphones produced and 81,580 paperback books produced.
Session 1: The importance of reducing our environmental footprint in catering
This session involved three keynote speakers including Laura Chan policy advisor at the Soil Association, Clare Clark head of sustainability at contract caterer CH&Co and Lynsey Penny sector specialist for hospitality & food services at waste reduction organisation WRAP.
Laura Chan showed attendees the ShiftN (2009) Global Food Systems diagram to provide an overview of the actors and flows that make up the global food system that distributes enough food for the world’s population. Food accounts for around one fifth of the total carbon footprint.
By 2040 it is estimated that the planet with be 1.5 degrees centigrade hotter, which could have a significant impact on life due to increased extreme weather events. These weather events have already been seen with the extreme heatwave across Europe, fires in Australia and floods in Pakistan.
Chan encouraged caterers to shift towards a more resilient food system and to explore what changes they can make. She said: “Your impact can be much bigger than you realise.”
Clare Clark looks after sustainability at CH&Co, who operate from anywhere between state schools to Buckingham Palace. CH&Co have been certified by the Sustainable Restaurant Association since 2018, achieving the maximum three stars.
CH&CO is committed to reaching net zero using science-based targets across our scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. The contract caterer is aiming to achieve net zero by 2040. Clark suggested the key tools to net zero were partnerships, data, learning & development, procurement, waste reduction, energy reduction, menu change and behaviour change.
Lynsey Penny noted that WRAP’s vision was to ‘create a thriving world where climate change was no longer a problem’. WRAP was established in 2000 and by 2020 the waste reduction organisation was working in 40 countries.
Penny highlighted some of the key problems within the industry such as one third of all food is wasted while one in nine people around the world go hungry, food waste accounts of 8% of total greenhouse gas emissions and $940Bn is lost every year due to food waste.
The UK’s hospitality and food service sector throws away 1.1m tonnes of food every year of which 75% is avoidable and it costs the nation £3.2Bn a year. Penny asked the caterers in the room to play their part to “feed people not bins.”
Session 2: Sharing successes and celebrating achievements with our catering sites
This session involved three keynote speakers including Michael Dove catering manager at Thomas Deacon Education Trust, Craig Neale compliance manager at Norse Group and Nick Mead managing director of Eden Caterers.
Michael Dove explained that Thomas Deacon Education Trust (TDET) is a large multi-cultural trust based in Peterborough catering for over 5,000 students from two to 19-years-old. The trust is aiming to be net carbon zero by 2030.
He said he wanted to get involved in the Cool Food Pro project because he believes that it is vital to educate children about sustainability in the food served on a daily basis and how it impacts on the environment as well as their own wellbeing.
Dove highlighted the benefits of using the carbon tool as the cooks find it easy to complete daily figures, it only takes a few minutes so it doesn’t add to their daily workload and parents are able to see the impact the school meals are having on the global environment.
Chris Neale said that Norse Group has been working in partnership with the Soil Association for the past 11 years with all of the schools they caterer for achieving the bronze award. He noted that Norse catering serves as many as 20,000 meals a day across schools, care home and business & industry which means they have the ability to ‘make a significant difference’.
At two schools in Norwich they have introduced organic mince in their bolognaise and organic yoghurts in an effort to reduce their carbon footprint. Neale described the Cool Food Pro as “helping to sharpen their tools” and that the small changes already made a big difference.
Nick Head said that every decision made at Eden Caterers has sustainability at its heart. The company has 5,000 clients in London and does as many as 40,000 covers a week. Head revealed plans that the company was planning to cut beef from all its menus by 1 October 2022.
Neale said that across the board Eden Caterers were 75% vegetarian, pay the London living wage and had so far planted 784 trees in 2022. Eden Caterers provided the attendees with a lunch featuring sandwiches, fresh fruit and dessert options.
Workshops
Attendees had the opportunity to go to two of four workshops, which lasted 45 minutes each. The workshops included:
- Creating sustainable menus: This session asked attendees how they could have a positive impact through the food they serve. The session explored changes caterers can make to their menus, the impact they have and how to positively communicate them to your customers.
- Tool and member’s portal demonstration: This interactive session enabled people to explore Cool Food Pro’s online carbon calculator. Attendees gained knowledge on understanding how it could help them reduce carbon in their kitchens.
- Food waste: This session involved a food waste quiz to get people thinking about the enormous impact of food waste. Caterers were encouraged to conduct a food audit so they could monitor their impact more closely.
- Ambassador’s workshop: This 45-minute session explored the barriers and successes of engaging others.
Conclusion
The event ended by connecting virtually with the partners in France to celebrate the sustainability successes on both sides of the Channel. For example in France one hospital managed to reduce their food waste by 78%.
Cool Food Pro encouraged caterers to set up the carbon calculator, choose their targets, measure the impact of the changes and communicate their results. Caterers from England and France presented their work in a walk-through exhibition, which was a final opportunity to network before heading home.