Local, seasonal or sustainably grown or raised products
We source products that we can guarantee are safe. Our food products are carefully selected by a panel of representatives from every business segment, a dietitian and a product quality manager who assess their quality, appearance and taste, as well as their nutritional value and shelf life, their packaging requirements and their associated waste.
We help UK and Irish farmers to provide our customers with quality produce, and work closely with them to ensure the food we buy meets criteria on seasonality, provenance, traceability, safety and animal welfare. In parallel, Safegard - our environmental health and safety consultancy - assures the production, premises and food safety procedures of potential suppliers.
Regional products: beyond food miles
At Sodexo, we go beyond 'food miles'. We look at more than just where a product is grown or manufactured, rather we look at the whole supply chain as transport makes up a fraction of the carbon that goes into producing a item.
Demand for sustainably sourced produce and the short term costs sometimes associated with it have to be carefully balanced along with the need to provide our clients and customers with a consistently high quality service. We also have to consider other issues such as seasonality, volume, variable demand and health and safety. We work alongside like-minded suppliers to incorporate the best regional produce - the best quality and the best in season - to ensure our clients receive consistently good food with a story to tell.
We do our best to promote regional products, for example through 'meet the buyer' events. In 2010 our two day event in Wales aimed to develop links with Welsh food producers, and help them to integrate their high-quality Welsh produce into our supply chain. The event also gave us the opportunity to communicate our commitment and expectations in terms of sustainable procurement and healthy eating. Thirty of Wales' leading suppliers attended the event showcasing some of the country's finest products. As a result, we invited several to attend new product development day and tender for contracts and subsequently listed a new specialist supplier of Welsh produce.
"We are committed to providing quality produce and, to meet the objectives of our sustainable procurement strategy, we are keen to engage with suppliers who can meet the demand of our customers and clients."
Steve Jobson, buying director, Sodexo
Sustainable agriculture
Sodexo was the first foodservice company to promote the Red Tractor, the UK's leading food assurance marque. Through regular inspections, the scheme provides an assurance of governance and traceability, including high standards of food safety and hygiene, animal welfare and environmental protection. We have been licensed to carry the Red Tractor logo across our sites in the UK, having demonstrated a responsible sourcing policy across all of our operations - a first for foodservice. All our fresh pork and chicken, fresh milk and cream are UK-sourced and Red Tractor certified, as well as 50% of our fresh produce (remaining being GlobalGAP certified).
In Ireland, we use the Bord Bia Quality Assurance Scheme marque, which can be found on our beef, pork, ham, poultry, burgers, sausages and eggs. Bord Bia Quality Assurance Scheme producers are inspected regularly and audited against standards that cover animal health, welfare and traceability, water and feed, pasture management, environmental management and farm safety.
In March 2010 our *Origo offer received the workplace catering solution award at the MIDAS (Menu Innovation and Development) Awards after impressing with the positioning and delivery of the core principles of the offer: seasonality, provenance and sustainability.
Sodexo became a corporate member of LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming) in 2011. LEAF promotes environmentally responsible farming. LEAF helps farmers produce good food, with care and to high environmental standards, identified in-store by the LEAF Marque logo.
Animal welfare
As part of our on-going commitment to higher farm animal welfare, we now have eggs, salmon, pork and chicken from farms approved by Freedom Food to strict RSPCA welfare standards. Freedom Food is the only UK farm assurance scheme solely dedicated to improving the lives of farm animals on farm, during transportation and at the abattoir.
Sodexo has received Good Egg awards from Compassion in World Farming, a leading farm animal welfare charity. Sodexo Prestige received an award for its heritage business, whose animal products adhere to the highest standards of animal husbandry, while Sodexo in Scotland was recognised for its Scottish Government contract, which moved to free-range-only fresh eggs in September 2009.
Download our Sustainable Food Procurement Brochure 2011.
