FMJ Facilities Management magazine providing industry-specific intelligence to FM and property professionals
Sodexo’s food waste reduction programme, WasteWatch, has reduced food waste by 43 per cent at Oasis academies since September 2022.
The food services and facilities management firm, first partnered with Oasis Community Learning over 12 years ago, and in March of this year, secured a three-year extension to its catering contract, commencing in September 2023.
Today Sodexo’s Food & Co offer provides breakfast, morning break and lunch to 28,000 Oasis pupils, as well as hospitality services.
Sodexo began the rollout of its WasteWatch programme at Oasis academies in May 2021 and this academic year has made significant progress on reducing food waste in the school meals service, preventing 115 metric tonnes of CO2 and the equivalent of 30,249 meals.
A key focus for Sodexo and Oasis is corporate social responsibility (CSR), and in June 2022 Sodexo appointed Elizabeth Axon as Social Responsibility and Engagement Manager specifically to help maximise Sodexo’s initiatives across Oasis academies. This not only includes the WasteWatch programme but also carbon labelling at its secondary schools, and the new partnership with Rethink Food’s Futures programme to provide Oasis academy students with exciting learning opportunities with tower gardens, soil-free tower gardens enable the children to grow fresh produce from seed to salad in 60 days.
Sodexo and Oasis were highly commended for the Sustainability in Education category at the Footprint Awards in recognition for their approach to embed sustainability across the contract.
Steve Hawkins, Managing Director, Schools, Sodexo UK & Ireland said: “This is a fantastic achievement and I’d like to thank the schools and our catering teams for their commitment to reducing food waste. We are committed to working together to ensure Oasis academy students enjoy tasty, nutritious school meals every day, and to help raise awareness of not only the importance of a well-balanced diet but how small changes can make a big difference.”
John Barneby, Chief Operating Officer of Oasis Community Learning added: “We are working on becoming the most sustainable family of schools in the sector and food is a key part of this strategy. Partnering with Sodexo has enabled us to create real change within our academy catering and inform our young people on sustainable food-choices. We look forward to continuing to see the improvements over the coming years as together we educate the next generation about the changes they can make to have a positive impact on the planet.”
Sodexo has pledged to roll out the food waste management technology to all its relevant sites by 2025.
