Spanning all areas of the business, including workplaces, destinations, venues, events, education, livery and healthcare, the caterer said ‘sustainability is an important long-term focus’ for the company.
As well as driving sustainability through its ‘active team’ of in-house ‘Green Ambassadors’ and encouraging its chefs to visit farm and fish suppliers, CH&CO has worked in partnership with the SRA over the past year to “analyse and monitor its sustainability credentials under the three key pillars of sourcing, environment and society.”
Scoring particularly well in the following areas: ‘celebrate local and seasonal’, ‘source better fish’, ‘support the community’, ‘feeding people well’, and ‘value natural resources’, CH&CO chief operating officer, Terry Waldron, commented: “We’re very proud to have been awarded three stars by the SRA across the entire company.
“This is an incredible achievement, particularly for a company of CH&CO’s size and scope. A lot of people across the business have made this happen and I thank everyone for their commitment and contribution.
“Sustainability has always been an important part of our culture, so we started from a good place, but working with the SRA challenged us and helped us focus on embedding consistent sustainability practices across the business, regardless of sector or site.
“It’s been an inspiring process and a pleasure to work with the SRA team.
“Of course, this is not a case of job done. It’s just the beginning of a long-term commitment. We must maintain focus to improve on our scores across the board.
“Sustainability is a complex, ever-changing area and there will always be things that we can do better. By working in partnership with the SRA, we’ll continue to shape our policies in line with the latest developments and challenge ourselves, as well as the industry, to make positive change.
“There’s not a quick fix when it comes to sustainability, but it’s something we’re committed to for the sake of our planet and future generations.”
Andrew Stephen, SRA chief executive, added: “CH&CO approached us with an ambitious challenge: How could we help them to embed consistent, high levels of sustainability across their hugely diverse range of over 700 sites?
“A year on, and as a result of an unswerving commitment from the top of the business down to the kitchen floor, the business has achieved three stars in the SRA’s Sustainability Rating, which is a fantastic achievement.
“Lessons learned in school dining rooms have been transferred to workplace restaurants and vice versa, whether that’s healthy eating programmes, food waste reduction initiatives or volunteering schemes for staff.
“As a result, all CH&CO customers can now enjoy food that does good as well as tasting good.”