How the changing seasons stir our passion for food

Good food is always cause for celebration

You don’t need to eat in London’s hottest restaurants to understand the power of food. Ask anyone about their fondest early memories, and you’ll hear about family get-togethers, grandma's trifle, or the smell of freshly baked bread. We want to recreate these nostalgic memories for our guests, serving them something that was made with love and is a joy to eat in the grey winter months ahead.

Seasonal menus aren’t just about pumpkins

I’m loving pumpkin spiced lattes right now, but the seasonality in our menus extends way beyond our cafes. Why? Firstly, because in-season ingredients from our local farmers and artisan producers just taste better. Secondly, because seasonal local ingredients are better for the planet. This is a great opportunity for Sodexo’s chefs to be creative, creating new innovative dishes or swapping in seasonal ingredients for a fresh take on a traditional dish.

So, how do we do it?

Firing creativity in all areas

Food is in Sodexo’s DNA, and this resonates throughout our culinary teams. You would expect that from development chefs, obviously, but loads of our foodie teams aren’t chefs. They might be nutritionists working out if a dish devised for our Modern Recipe brand promotes gut health. Or data analysts analysing how our most popular nostalgic dishes might perform with a new twist, like a Kitchen Works autumn casserole.

Our brand experts know exactly what guests expect, and marketing executives who promote seasonal healthy dishes to fuel and nourish our customers and clients. We have insight teams looking at consumer trends, food safety specialists looking at allergen controls, and sustainability teams helping us work towards key target commitments of 70% low-carbon meals by 2030.

Cooking up new ideas together

To refresh our menus, we start by sharing the latest insight with our chefs, looking at our brands and the emerging trends. Modern Recipe, for example, aims to nourish body and mind so it features nutritious ingredients that reflect a growing interest in wellness and a preference for all-day grazing.

Then, it’s the all-important taste test. We test the recipe suggestions that come in from our talented chef teams in the business and in our development kitchens to refine them together until we know they can be prepared safely and sustainably and that they taste out of this world. Afterwards, our nutrition team analyses each recipe for calorie labelling and allergens, food photographer Steve captures mouth-watering shots, and our digital team uploads the dishes to our food ordering app, Everyday. It really does take a village.

Blowing people away at our showcases

My highlight is when we celebrate our passion for food at our Love of Food showcase event. Everyone gets to savour the new recipes they helped develop, like our tandoori roasted cod with cumin roasted seasonal vegetables. At the showcase, chefs get to hear about the latest new ingredients directly from our suppliers and discuss how they would work in their locations. There is also drop-in clinics with our sustainability experts too, ready to inspire everyone for the next season.

You can’t be a chef at Sodexo and not think about how food impacts the planet, because it’s part of who we are. You don’t need to know the granular detail – we have experts who set and track our KPIs, for example reducing red meat, cutting food waste, or using Future 50 ingredients – because you’ll hear about it all the time. It could be our UK and Ireland CEO, Sean Haley, talking about cutting food waste or our sustainability director Claire Atkins-Morris guiding smaller suppliers towards Net Zero. It’s a natural part of culinary innovation here.

Sharing our love of food wherever we go

It’s an approach that helps our clients too. Not just with carbon reduction but also with the challenges they face to delight their employees. By encouraging constant collaboration between our experts, from cooking to sustainability, supply chain, operations and more, we can respond to changing needs faster and serve food without compromise, whether in the heart of a city or on a remote construction site.

Cooking is fun here too, with regular competitions for novice and professional chefs that embody our vision for sustainable, nutritious, and exciting dishes. The opportunities are limitless, as we’re a global business with global food brands and we’re innovating all the time. So, if you want to help us make the leap into Spring/Summer 2025, all you need is a love of food. 

Find out more about food brands Modern Recipes and Kitchen Works

Join us on our journey to create sustainable, delicious dishes that inspire and delight. Visit Sodexo careers to learn more and explore our latest job vacancies