This week a select group of top influencers in some of the UK’s biggest national businesses came together to discuss the challenges of putting food provision at the heart of sustainability and staff wellbeing strategies.
The round table discussion was led by the Soil Association and held at the HQ of Pearson (FTSE 100) in London. Attendees included heads of CSR and forward thinking caterers from businesses including the Bank of England, the Environment Agency, Dixons Carphone, Harbour + Jones (caterers for Selfridges) and Vacherin amongst others.
Kesah Trowell, Head of Corporate Responsibility at Dixons Carphone commented; “A workplace marches on its stomach and food is an important part of morale so it should feature in any CSR strategy.”
Discussion identified the following key motives to improve workplace catering:
- Alignment of company values
- Company reputation
- Wider awareness of health and healthy eating
- Added value brought of an independent verification such as the Soil Association’s Food for Life Catering Mark
Attendees confirmed experiences of these motives in their own companies:
Kesah from Dixon continued: “Our canteen is our main social hub where food choice, portion size and price are often the subject of discussion. We make sure food is ethically and sustainably sourced and that our employees can choose from a nutritious, varied and well-priced menu. Equally, overall good health is encouraged through the provision of onsite gyms, charity sporting events and fitness initiatives where participants are supported with fitness trackers along with easy to follow training and diet plans so they can become workplace well-being champions. We’ve found that peer to peer activity is the most effective way to highlight the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and convince colleagues to adopt positive lifestyle changes.”
Ben Atkinson, Contracts Manager for catering at the Environment Agency, said; “Health, safety and wellbeing are huge elements of the Environment Agency’s working culture, as is sustainability in our procurement model. We are very aware of our responsibility to support food producers in this country & this influences our choice of caterers. All three of these elements seem to point towards food policy and CSR and continue to influence our catering standards at our sites.”
Many of those attending reported change was being driven from the ground up – if employees know more about good food and its impact, they will demand changes in workplace catering.
But attendees recognised the cultural shift required – both internally within businesses and globally – to make good food an essential in the workplace.
Pearson PLC, who hosted the event, was one of the first businesses to achieve a Food for Life Catering Mark in recognition of their more sustainable, ethical food choices in the canteen. Peter Hughes, Head of Corporate Responsibility said; “Pearson has very clear values that have been in place for some time. Our staff as a group care about health and they care about the environment. So demand for catering is something that came from the grass roots – both driven by employees and driven by our values. Another main driver from our staff is about the environment; what can we do about sustainable sourcing, food miles, and offsetting carbon emissions. The Catering Mark brings together these issues within an independent verification that is easy to communicate within the company.”
The event was one of the first of a series of small discussions that will help engage with business and industry to find out how to bring workplace catering to the fore.
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