CATERING FMS AT BRUNCH
Industry reviews and reports assessing the commitment of businesses to the sustainability agenda continue to highlight the need to demonstrate the business case. Facilities Managers attending an industry breakfast at CBRE, hosted by the property company’s caterer, Vacherin, and leading industry body the Sustainable Restaurant Association, were offered a menu of options for meeting the challenge.
A panel of industry experts made a very compelling case for putting it at the heart of an organisation’s operation, none more so than, Neelum Mohammad, CBRE’s Associate Director for Sustainable Engineering. She said that businesses that fail to embrace sustainability in their catering would get left behind as they miss out on a competitive edge and struggle to attract quality staff.
CBRE She told the audience at Food
Sustainability for FMs: Act, Collaborate, Communicate, that putting sustainability at the heart of catering operations was a must. Food and nourishment is central to productivity, she added, and a recent survey of CBRE employees in the US found that more than 80% thought that nutritious, healthy, sustainable food made them more productive.
“We see sustainability and the circular economy as a game changer. Major organisations are paying it more attention and those that are engaged now will have a competitive edge. Those that don’t will be left behind and will find it increasingly hard to attract the workforce they want because employees are demanding it,” she added.
If Neelum’s argument that attracting the best possible workforce, retaining them and maximising their productivity wasn’t persuasive enough, Anthony Kingsley, Sustainability and CSR Lead at Vacherin, cited additional benefits.
www.tomorrowsfm.com
VACHERIN Vacherin, who recently received a
Three Star Food Made Good rating from the SRA for their operation at CBRE, have put their Nutritious and Delicious healthy eating menus at the heart of their client offering. Anthony said this was part of a future- proofing initiative to reduce their environmental impact but offered other positives too. “The focus should be on more fruit and veg – as it’s healthier, cheaper and is better for the environment. We have the ability to make a positive impact, working in collaboration with our suppliers and clients who share our values” he said.
WRAP “I’m yet to meet anyone who likes food
waste,” was perhaps an unsurprising truth from panellist Richard Swannell Director of Sustainable Food Systems at WRAP (Waste Resources Action Programme). But, if there is a universal aversion to food waste why does the hospitality and food service sector waste so much, he asked. If businesses were to take one sustainable step in their catering operation, reducing the amount of food they waste, should be it.
“Food waste costs hospitality £2.5 billion a year,” Swannell added. “That means you’re throwing away your money and your client’s money. But there are huge potential savings if you measure food waste, understand the causes and then plan to tackle it.”
AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION One FM in the audience asked what
she could do to reduce the amount “FOOD WASTE
COSTS HOSPITALITY £2.5 BILLION A YEAR.”
of food wasted at events. Time and again, she admitted, guests fail to attend and food is thrown away. Mark Linehan, Managing Director of the SRA, who facilitated the event, offered two examples of successful initiatives taken by caterers to tackle this endemic problem. One, he said, had reduced by 15% the amount of food prepared for events, while the other had managed to make food waste a regular item on the agenda of the client’s board of directors, thereby increasing the value attached to food across the business.
SRA Mark Linehan said that forward
thinking operators like Vacherin and businesses like CBRE were showing the industry the positive impact of adopting a fully-integrated sustainable catering operation. He said that organisations that chose not to follow their example would risk alienating their employees.
“Recent research conducted for the SRA by Harden’s shows that these issues play a part in the dining decisions of more than 90% of consumers. The time for sitting back and doing nothing has gone. You simply can’t afford not to get involved in sustainability.”
www.thesra.org TOMORROW’S FM | 23
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