Sustainability Bites in association with Nestlé Professional: Recent Episodes
Footprint Media Group
Sustainability Symposium is a new series of podcasts featuring panel discussions between industry experts that focus on some of the key sustainability issues and topics that confront the out of home food and drink sector today.
Sustainability Bites, in association with Nestle Professional, is a podcast which unpicks the key sustainability issues affecting the hospitality and foodservice sector. This episode focuses on the hot topic of waste.
But this is not just another podcast on waste. With waste making up around 3% of
HaFS businesses footprints, we ask - is waste really a strategic priority? And if so, why?
How can we overhaul our industry’s existing piecemeal approach to tacking waste to
drive transformational change? And we will paint a picture of a waste-free future that
can be achieved using the technology available to us today.
We will talk to Nestlé Professional, Sodexo and WRAP to discuss their achievements
in tackling packaging and food waste, as well as innovations in wider industry, such
as innovative new eco-options that can be recycled within existing infrastructure (e.g.
sea-weed based options), and reusables, such as those trialled by McDonalds or the
user-friendly reuse models being rolled out at venues and festivals.
Food waste has risen up the agenda because its significant carbon impact makes
reducing food waste vital to achieving net zero targets. Our panellists will share
insights of how organisations such as Nestlé and Sodexo are harnessing food saving
to achieve carbon and cost reductions.
- Sokhna Gueye - Head of Packaging, Nestlé UK&I
- Sophie Whitfield - Head of Corporate Responsibility Engagement, Sodexo UK&I
- Eleanor Morris - Sector Specialist, WRAP
- Amy Fetzer - Footprint, Chair
The cost of living crisis is often talked about in the context of individuals and families. However, little light is shed on its effects on the hospitality sector in general; let alone discerning its impacts between the cost and profit elements.
Despite the vaguest hint of respite in the inflation rates, the rising cost of goods and energy is having a profound impact on foodservice and hospitality. Whether it’s the disappearance of lunch trade, owners rebranding their restaurants to accommodate change in consumer behaviour, branch closures, re-thinking supply chains in operations or adapting to new offerings in B&I or education, the crisis is impacting the whole sector.
There are calls for a cost of living package to pull hospitality back from the brink. There are small mercies such as extended trading hours for the Coronation and then, of course, there is the perpetual resilience of the industry adapting to crisis after crisis. But is this enough? Is enough support available? How much can an industry take…Brexit, Covid and now Cost of Living. What next?
The objective of this podcast is to delve into the ramifications of this latest challenge and examine the different impact the crisis is having respectively on both the cost and profit sectors. Also, to discuss how business has responded and what can be learnt from this adaptability.
The focus is to look at the here and now but also into the future with a degree of positivity towards a less troublesome time. Tune in to the podcast to hear the fascinating debate with:
- Nick Attfield - Director of Hospitality & Retail, Adnams
- Morag Freathy - Managing Director B&I, Compass Group
- Naz Haq - Head of Corporate Procurement, Bidfood
- Katya Simmons - Managing Director, Nestlé Professional
- Amy Fetzer - Footprint, Chair
This podcast seeks to disentangle the fast-evolving theme of Sustainable Diets with a view to creating more clarity as we approach events such as Veganuary. It also serves as a preface to a Footprint White Paper due to be launched in November. Topics discussed by our panelists are how to define a sustainable diet given how fast knowledge is evolving. What frameworks can the sector work to. We explored current and future trends. We took a close look at plant based, the meat reduction debate and also the context of health. We furthermore explored the supply chain; Scope 3 emissions and regenerative agriculture vs soil health as well as animal welfare. Finally, we also shone a spotlight on eduction and communication; worker skills, menu design, understanding Scope 3 and its implications in the context of consumer dialogue and comms.
Tune in to the podcast to hear the fascinating debate with:
• Chantelle Nicholson – Chef Patron, Apricity
• Emily Pinkney – Head of Sustainability, Sysco Speciality Foods
• Marisa Heath – Chief Executive, Plant-based Food Alliance
• Anna Collins – Nutrition Manager, Nestlé
• Amy Fetzer (in copy) - Footprint, Chair
Never before has it been as much of a challenge to attract talent into the hospitality industry. Not only operationally back of house and front of house, but also up and down the supply and value chains. It is one of the biggest challenges the sector faces.
Footprint’s objective is as much environmental sustainability as it is social and with Nestlé Professional investing so heavily into future proofing the sector in terms of human resource, this podcast seeks to explore the challenges and opportunities the sector faces and how to navigate them. Our objective is to encourage broader debate on this subject and for this episode's discussion we are joined by the following industry experts:
- John Holden - Chair & Founder Member of Bridging The Skills Gap; Food & Beverage Lecturer, Cheshire South and West College
- Julia Jones - Head of B2B Marketing, Nestlé Professional
- Amanda McDade - National Head of Careers & Education at Springboard
- Sophie Taylor - Chef de Partie at the Gleneagles Townhouse and 2021 Toque d’Or Front of House Student Winner, 2022 Toque d’Or Front of House Judge
- Nick Hughes – Associate Editor, Footprint (Chair)
In this, the first episode we discuss the in vogue subject of regenerative farming. But what does regenerative farming actually mean? Is it another buzz-phrase in the sustainability landscape? Or is it a concept that we should all be informed and knowledgeable about?
This podcast sets out what regenerative farming actually is; what its implications are up and down supply and value chains; and what it means to the foodservice industry. We explore the right questions to ask and the knowledge gaps that need to be filled in the company of a panel made up of the following food industry experts.
- Nick Hughes – Associate Editor, Footprint (chair)
- Cliona Duffy – Head of Commercial Partnerships, RSPCA Assured
- James Smith – Managing Director, Loddington Farm & Owlet Fruit Juice
- Robin Sundaram – Responsible Sourcing Manager, Nestlé
- Lee Truelove – Responsible Sourcing Manager, First Milk
The discussion looks to the future and investigates the onward impacts of regenerative agriculture on the foodservice and hospitality sector and the difference your business can make by embracing the concept.