Eurest and Foodbuy recognised at the 2023 Footprint Awards
Compass Group UK & Ireland has been acknowledged at this year’s Footprint Awards for the Sustainability Labelling Award and for the Stakeholder Engagement Award. The event took place on Thursday 8th June 2023 at The Royal Institute British Architects (RIBA).
The Footprint Awards are the only initiative to honour the achievements of companies in the area of sustainability and responsible business practice in the out of home sector. These awards are open to organisations at every stage in the food supply chain from growers, producers, manufacturers and distributors, through to all hospitality and foodservice operators in both public and private sectors, their suppliers and other stakeholders such as NGOs and specialist support services.
Compass won two awards at the ceremony:
- Foodbuy UK - Stakeholder Engagement Award
- Eurest UK - Sustainability Labelling Award
Foodbuy UK were recognised for the Stakeholder Engagement Award - awarded for their effective engagement programme aimed at stakeholders to raise awareness of the issues and drive more sustainable behaviour. Some key activities Foodbuy undertook were:
- Supplier contracts worth over £20 million in total spend now have relevant sustainability KPIs attached
- Successfully supported 12 suppliers in setting science-based targets
- Launching Foodbuy Net Zero Supplier hub, an exclusive, interactive platform through which aims to share their sustainable procurement expertise whilst learning from their suppliers’ in-depth industry knowledge
- Beginning climate education with wider Foodbuy team to work towards being a carbon-literate workforce
Eurest became the UK’s first contract caterer to introduce eco-labelling on their meals. The project, led by Head of Nutrition & Sustainability, Rees Bramwell, took huge commitment – and saw Eurest partner with the University of Oxford to analyse 10,000 recipes and their impact on the environment, and track the response of customers.
The labelling has been well received by clients and their employees and it’s inspiring their chefs to create meals with the lowest possible environmental impact, too. This year, Eurest have successfully eliminated all E-labelled recipes in our restaurants and increased A-rated dishes by 25%.
Morag Freathy, Managing Director B&I, Eurest commented: “Because of the size and nature of our business we have a real opportunity to do something good. By doing the ‘right things’ in workplace feeding we can make a positive difference to the nation and even to the world. That’s what our Eco-Labelling project was about and we’re very proud to be the first contract caterer in the UK to do it and being recognised by Footprint cements this even further.”
