This is being achieved through a focus on the provision of nutrition information at the point of choice, recipe management and working with their procurement arm Foodbuy Group to increase vegetable procurement and greater use of beans, lentils and pulses in its dishes.
There has been an increase in vegetable procurement of 7.95% over 12 months. It includes more than 120 million portions of vegetables that were served to children. Compass is on track to achieving its target of 20% increase in vegetables by 2030.
Baseline analysis of procurement volumes of beans, pulses and lentils shows that over a 12-month period (Jan 2024 - Dec 2024) over 29,000 tonnes were ordered. In the last three years, the business has placed particular emphasis on increasing plant-based dishes.
Analysis of over 70,000 live products shows that 17% would be classified as a source of or high in plant protein and 23% would be classified as a source of or high in animal protein. Using this data, nutritionists are continuing to update recipes to increase plant proteins every month.
Compass is maintaining its progress in relation to low salt, fat and sugar in meals. Almost 88% of 21,000 live recipes are low or medium in fat. Over 93% of recipes are low or medium in salt and 94% of dishes remain low or medium in sugar.
Nicky Martin, director of nutrition at Compass Group UK & Ireland, said: “I am pleased to see a widespread acknowledgement of the importance of diet in improving the health of the nation. Our dedicated teams are continuing to look at how we can put health and wellbeing front and centre of meals and track sales for healthier sustainable choices - I am incredibly proud of our progress.
“We continue to keep levels of fat, sugar and salt low; our focus on plant-based and plant-forward dishes has resulted in creative and delicious dishes for our customers alongside an increase in veg procurement and items like lentils. Diet continues to be a real challenge for so many, but our teams are committed to our continued work in this area. We are passionate about providing balanced nutrition, to help prevent malnutrition, obesity, and diet related disease.”
Across the business, Compass’ team of nutritionists and dietitians have been introducing healthier switches and dishes. Examples of success include:
- Business & Industry: ‘The Good Stuff’ healthier range, which is now embedded into over 50% of its food concepts.
- CH&CO’s Gather & Gather: Includes ‘Live Well’ as a core range across its menus - which underpins its dedication to providing healthier food.
- Chartwells: Continue to increase plant-forward and vegetarian options with every seasonal menu change.
- ESS: Within Defence, for the Essentials and Field concepts, 76% of items on the menu aren’t high in fat, saturated fat, sugar or salt.
- Levy: Nutritionists are looking at how they can reduce the amount of ultra-processed foods available.
- Medirest’s Wellspring restaurant: Increased vegetable availability and items containing veg in the recipes for Spring/ Summer 2025.
- Restaurant Associates Group: Over the past year, the Wellness team has hosted more than 60 pop-up events, ranging from nutritional drop-in sessions to lunch-and-learn events.