FOOD & DRINK BOUNCING BACK
Sustainability took a back seat in the catering industry when the pandemic hit. Many believe now is the time to get back on track. Tomorrow’s FM spoke to a range of experts on the state of sustainability across the sector to gauge the current landscape and where it goes next.
Before the pandemic put the catering industry in dire straits, achieveing sustainability was the main aim. Now that we are seeing the light at the end of the pandemic, it is time to pick up the pieces and check back on the ever- important drive towards sustainability. To forge ahead, the sector needs to address its challenges and evaluate the solutions currently being implemented to alleviate the catering practice footprint.
A backwards leap: The effects of the pandemic on catering sustainability Henry Watts, Group Executive Director of Atalian Servest, explains that during the pandemic, health and safety concerns justified the use of disposable goods and hampered the efforts towards reusability. This was done to limit contact cases as much as possible. He says: “The pandemic ushered in Covid trading protocols at sites that had to stay open during lockdown to reduce touch points of equipment and cutlery. The industry took a huge backwards leap in using significant amounts of single use plastics including sachets, plastic cutlery, and plates etc. to remove as many touchpoints as possible for customers and catering staff. Whilst this has been largely reversed it has placed pressures on the supply chain.” Watts further asserts that lower prices for sustainable single use plastics is greatly demanded.
Charlotte Wright, Head of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability at Elior, echoes this claim: “The pandemic had a very negative impact on the progress that had been made at reducing the use of single use plastics. Consumers had started to use reusable coffee cups and cutlery, but this was not possible during the pandemic and so meant positive practices went backwards.”
What’s more, Wright points out that the uncertain footfall caused by hybrid working led to an increase in food waste.
A shift in client priorities If surviving through the pandemic was not challenging enough, the spike in inflation is causing further barriers to sustainability. This is due to a shift in the priorities of the catering customers who are seeking to lower costs. As Watts puts it: “In this high inflationary period we are finding that the overall cost of catering is becoming increasingly important when tendering services. Although the cost was falling pre-Covid, the cost of providing sustainable catering has increased dramatically across all areas of food and sundry supply chains.”
The pressure on supply chains caused by increasing fuel costs, driver shortages, product availability and the rise in price of animal feed is demanding creativity
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in menu design. Watts says: “The increased cost of meat due to feed and fuel pricing has pushed menu development even more towards meat free menu and recipe planning.”
Elior’s Wright also emphasises menu design as a key to lowering the environmental cost of catering. “One of our targets focusses on clever menu design, introducing more plant-based proteins and reducing high-carbon footprint ingredients such as beef and lamb,” she says. “One of our achievements so far has been reducing beef consumption by 47% across the business. Using seasonable food in menus can be cost effective as it uses produce that is available and locally sourced.”
Technology as a tool for
sustainability in catering Catering service providers looking to increase the sustainability of their offering can use technology to monitor and help decrease their waste and footprint. As Jason Webb, MD of Electronic Temperature Instruments, explains: “The cliché of ‘time is money’ very much applies here. Using technology can save time and save the reputation of those companies working in farm to fork. However, they need to understand how to best utilise the data that technology provides to tackle food waste and safety. For example, temperature control is critical to ensuring a high quality and safe product is delivered to the consumer’s plate. This is enabled by constant harvesting and monitoring of data, a process which wireless data loggers have mastered.”
As Wright explains, Elior uses Chef’s Eye, a technology that “enables the catering team to measure food waste and to identify the different types of waste – such as plate waste or preparation waste, or over catering – and this, in turn, means that changes can be made that are based on actual data”.
Elior has also implemented a ‘eco-points’ loyalty scheme into its digital ordering app, rewarding customers who pick low-carbon dishes by planting a tree whenever they have accrued 10 eco points. “We wanted to find a way to bring our customers along the journey of sustainability with us”, says Wright. Maintaining a dialogue between client and caterer on sustainability is also critical. As she explains: “Clients, consumers and the suppliers want to work collaboratively to reduce their own carbon footprint and are keen to share best practice with one another. It’s important to remember that a lot of these topics are relatively new, so the best way to improve is to work together.”
Technology enlightens the path to sustainability with data and connectivity.
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