Creating a diverse food supply chain with our network of SMEs

Sodexo's 2021 social impact pledge included a commitment to ensuring 40% of our spend is with SME and VCSE suppliers. While being the right thing to do from a social purpose point of view, the diversity this has created in our supply chain has also been crucial for resilience. Head of Supply Chain & Food Procurement, Aoife Wycherley, explains the steps Sodexo has taken to build its diverse supply chain.

The diversity of a supply chain is critical to its resilience

A food supply chain is a process all food goes through - from production through to consumption. At Sodexo, we work with hundreds of suppliers, large and small, all contributing to what ends up on your plate. By having a varied roster of suppliers, we ensure our food network remains reliable and able to adjust to changing circumstances. 

With shorter decision-making trees, our SMEs can be especially agile in an industry that needs to react quickly. Even just looking back on the past two years, we've seen small businesses effectively respond to many curveballs, including major disruption to global markets and dramatic increases in energy and fuel prices. 

Smaller businesses are particularly effective under these circumstances because of their ability to be agile and innovative. SMEs can respond at a rate that is not always possible on a larger scale, particularly when it comes to reducing carbon emissions and achieving Net Zero targets. In fact, we recently supported and endorsed one of our SME suppliers, The Soho Sandwich Company, when they made radical changes to their packaging so they could achieve measurable waste reduction. 

Because it’s the right thing to do 

While this diversity is what makes us resilient, our work with small and medium enterprises also has a significant impact on local economies. On a global scale, Sodexo feeds 100 million customers daily – imagine the impact and social value we can bring to communities just by supporting a range of smaller suppliers and businesses. 

Whether through supporting social enterprises or by ensuring diversity among business leaders, we want to be both active and engaged with our suppliers throughout the UK and Ireland. 

Our SMEs represent over half of our core supply chain and account for 44% (£256 million) of our total spend in the UK and Ireland.  

Supply Chain Inclusion Programme 

Due to its scope, scale, and complexity, Sodexo can be difficult to navigate, even as an employee. So how can we expect suppliers to find their way around? Our Supply Chain Inclusion Programme, launched in 2015, is about breaking down barriers smaller suppliers have traditionally faced when working with large, multinational clients. 

The programme involves a series of workshops that support new suppliers in navigating our onboarding process. We provide opportunities for suppliers to meet our top decision makers and guarantee a meeting with a relevant category manager. It's all about sharing information on our requirements and making it so businesses can feel comfortable asking the questions they may have felt intimidated to ask in the past.

By creating a friendly environment for suppliers to understand Sodexo, we hope to actively encourage small businesses to pitch for supply contracts they may have traditionally felt they wouldn’t be suitable for. 

Of the suppliers who joined our programme in 2019, 41% were social enterprises, 29% were female owned, and 17% were owned by ethnic minorities. To date we are actively trading with just under a quarter of these organisations.
 

Sodexo's Mentoring Programme  

As of this year, we have also launched a tailored mentoring programme. 

We believe we have a responsibility to share our knowledge. While the Inclusion Programme has always included an element of mentoring, the positive feedback from a workshop we conducted on modern slavery helped us realise the true impact our expert industry advice could have.

A supplier will approach us with a brief which will then be passed to a relevant internal expert. They can then be placed on a structured six-month mentoring programme. For instance, if a supplier is thinking of developing a social media strategy for the next year, we can align them with one of our social media experts to guide and monitor them.

The more we can support suppliers in their journey to grow and expand, the greater the benefit to Sodexo. The mentoring programme will allow smaller businesses to develop and be adjusted case-by-case, resulting in tailormade schemes.

Supporting SMEs with user-friendly carbon accounting 

As a chair of the Business Services Association’s SME Partnership Committee, one of the issues being brought up time and time again is the problem with carbon accounting.

Ultimately all companies are trying to tackle climate change. However, Net Zero reporting requirements are often different for each, which can lead to mountains of paperwork. These extra hoops can be overwhelming for small suppliers, so I suggest that Sodexo and other high-profile businesses come together and create one set of questions aligned with Net Zero targets.

A considered and uniform reporting system will not only make things simpler for suppliers but lead to better compliance. It should be something everyone can understand, be easily rolled out and used across multiple food industries. We want to support our suppliers by making these reporting requirements as easy as possible.

What can you do to cultivate a diverse supply chain?

Utilising SMEs is key to creating a diverse, resilient, and successful supply chain. There are a huge number of organisations providing support for connecting businesses with suitable enterprises, so it's about getting out there and taking the opportunity with both hands. 

We work with WEConnect, MSDUK, Social Enterprise UK, Enterprise Nation, Scotland Food & Drink and Bord Bia to identify and invite the most exciting, relevant SMEs and social enterprises to join our network. Rather than just being a tick box exercise, at Sodexo, we want to support SMEs to the best of our ability, something I believe is reflected in all our initiatives.
 

Learn more about how we support our SMEs