Caterers make the most out of greens

Caterers from across London - and those who use their services - gathered at the Emirates Stadium, home of Arsenal Football Club, to share ideas about how to reduce their environmental impact this week.


At an event organised by London Remade under the auspices of the Mayor’s Green Procurement Code delegates met to discuss good practice

“It’s an exchange event where people can meet suppliers who can help them with sustainable procurement and companies already working in this area can meet each other to share ideas,” London Remade’s Ritu Arora told edie.

She said the organisation had put on a number of similar events for different sectors in the past and had decided on catering as it was an area where there had been many requests on how to source services and goods more sustainably.

Speakers and exhibiting companies covered a broad range of subjects from how to reduce the environmental impact of packaging to case studies from an award-winning low-impact restaurant to a company which collects used cooking oil from caters and recycles it into biodiesel.

The big issues for the capital’s caterers were waste based – how to reduce both food waste and packaging and how to best dispose of that which is created – and how to balance the environmental impact of food miles and fertilisers.

The Mayor’s Green Procurement Code is a support service which helps companies throughout the capital purchase goods, materials and services is a more sustainable way.

Asked what those who attended could expect to come away with, Ms Arora said: “principally they get a chance to network and pick up information. We think there is a demand for this kind of event and it’s becoming quite typical for companies to want to know how to procure in a greener way.”

Sam Bond

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