defence-catering-food-services

Defence Catering, Retail & Leisure

From high-street style restaurants to casual coffee bars and takeaways, we’re fuelling the military.

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Services we offer in Defence

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    Cooking & Dining 

    We know that food and dining are essential, not just for the physical development of military staff, but also for their mental wellbeing and social needs while they are on base. From nostalgic comfort food to global bowls and plant-based plates that pack a real taste punch, Sodexo's menu options set the standard for modern, high-street style dining. We design our eating environments to be friendly social spaces, in the knowledge that eating will always be a social occasion for our guests. 
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    Shopping & Retail 

    Convenience is a must on-site, particularly in rural areas without mainstream supermarket provision. Our retail offer aims to deliver a wide range of products for personnel, from everyday essentials to out-of-hours hot food and coffee. We ensure that service personnel are able to access everything they need to enjoy life on base, without any hassle. 
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    Messing Provision 

    Sodexo teams are old hands when it comes to messing. We deliver functions and events of all sizes and requirements, in the traditional mess dining style. For our junior ranks, we provide a fun, stimulating environment complemented with social activities and varied options for recreation, video-gaming and viewing sports events. We understand that the needs of military are changing, and so we are putting the right facilities in place to enhance the lived experiences of personnel.  
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      Convenience & Grab & Go 

    Sometimes our customers need to eat on the run, between commitments or whilst multi-tasking. Our Grab & Go options include breakfast pots, salad boxes, soups and hot pots, sweet and savoury pastries, traybakes and cakes, as well as bean-to-cup coffee and specialty teas. We can also offer self-cook facilities on site, giving service personnel more choice in food and dining options, and making things more convenient for them.  
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    Great Value 

    With affordably priced meal deals and promotions complementing well-balanced, consistently sized portions, we offer great value-for-money across our Defence sites. 

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    Fresh 

    Just like our ingredients, our menus are fresh, delivering balanced, tasty food - served as healthy options or indulgent favourites for personnel who require a strong diet for work.

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    Speedy 

    Our menu options and labelling are easy to understand, and our restaurant design and speed of delivery help to ease decision-making and reduce queues.  

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    Friendly 

    Our friendly team and service style provide a warm, relaxing and welcoming dining experience, re-fuelling personnel for their next task. 

Building customer-led solutions by design

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    Mindful Active

    Through deploying insight-led solutions, our health and fitness programme - Mindful Active supports and encourages health and well-being for customers, building on the four pillars of: FUEL, FOCUS, PERFORM and RECOVER. From online nutritional information and expert dietic advice to healthy recipes and mental health support, we guide customers towards all their physical and mental needs. 
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    Modern Flavours 

    Our global bowls and plant-based plates are inspired by modern cuisines and punchy flavours that are sure to inspire and delight. In developing these meals, we have the interests of our customers at heart, tailoring each meal to everyone’s tastebuds. From street food to international cuisine, our defence catering service provides a diverse range of modern food options that promise to deliver in nutrition and flavour. 
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    Technology Enablement 

    Technology enhances the lived experience for all our customers, from finding out what’s on the menu and pre-ordering items to learning about services at their site. With the right technology, we aim to improve the customer journey, either with apps to make check in processes as seamless as possible, or with communication and feedback from customers, which allows data-driven decisions to be made for the benefit of all. 

Fuelling the modern military

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    Nostalgic Comfort 

    There’s nothing like a good home-cooked meal that brings comfort and satisfaction. We provide traditional food that rivals home-cooking, to satisfy the cravings of service personnel. At one of our sites, a company of Gurkha soldiers were welcomed and hosted with a taste of home - traditional Gurkha meals which included curries, basmati rice, a side of dahl and a bird’s eye chilli.  
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    Global Bowls 

    Offering variety as part of our defence food services means that we can give customers a range of options when choosing what to eat. From kebabs and tacos to pasta dishes and English breakfast options, our global bowls bring new flavours from around the world. 
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    Plant Powered 

    Army personnel’s diets are key to their wellbeing and performance, so we provide healthy food offers for our customers, like plant-based meal options across our sites. While ensuring that customers are fed and nourished, we are also working towards our social impact pledge by contributing to a healthier society with low carbon meals.  
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    Grab & Go 

    Armed forces catering requires convenience, especially with busy schedules and commitments. Grab & Go options are made available across our military sites, including yoghurt pots, fruit bowls, sandwiches, snacks, and drinks. By having these options available, we are improving the lived experience of military personnel, giving them access to everything they need, when they need it.  

Kitchen Works Co. at Dalton Barracks 

Sodexo is bringing the best of high-street style dining to the military with our approach to the future of military dining.

As part of the pioneering Army EATS programme, ‘Junior Ranks Dining by Kitchen Works Co.’ is a fresh take on messing, offering seasonal, global meals and grab-and-go options.  

Download the case study
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7M meals served annually

We serve a staggering 7 million meals in our dining facilities across our British Armed Forces sites each year, equating to almost 25,000 meals every single day. They say ‘an army marches on its stomach’ – we say, let’s cook! 

Developing social value in Defence 

Our Social Value Strategy outlines our key commitments to People, Planet, Places and Partners, contributing to a more prosperous society for all.

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Social impact pledge  

Fundraising, volunteering, mentoring and organising charitable events are actively encouraged by Sodexo and commonplace across our Defence estate.  
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Tackling food waste 

In our commitment to achive carbon neutrality, Our WasteWatch initiative, powered by Leanpath, enables kitchen staff to monitor and reduce food waste. 
Learn more

Get started with Sodexo

Contact our team