Cameron Roberts chats to Ben Dutson and Sam Morgan about how sustainability is at the top of caterers ’ menus

or caterers , it ’ s no longer enough to serve unique and delicious food , sustainability is the order for the day . At events , it impacts the entire value chain – it ’ s no different for the caterers . The avenues for sustainability are vast , from waste to seasonality of food , so there ’ s a host of challenges to consider for caterers in 2022 .

The pressure is intensified by customer demand – with sustainability being so high on the agenda for many organisers , caterers must be creative in how they present their green chops to align with governance and sustainability policies .

I chatted to Ben Dutson , food innovation director , Sodexo Live ! and Sam Morgan , executive chef , The Venues Collection at Compass Group UK and Ireland , about how they are navigating the sustainability minefield .

Spoilt for choice The key interaction between delegates and caterers , unsurprisingly , is through food . So reflecting an organisation ’ s green journey through menu

Ben Dutson

“ There is a cost implication , you must find a balance . Eventually some of these things [ sustainable options ] will have to come down in price because they will become the norm .”

- Ben Dutson

options is an important milestone to reach for .

For some , this is about taking meat off the menu – with ingredients like beef being great offenders when thinking about sustainability . It ’ s easy to say on paper that meat is typically less sustainable , so remove it from all menus , but for many organisers this is not a powerful enough driver .

According to Morgan , price will be a key driver for customer choice , rather than ethical reasons . He said : “ While our venues aim to give customers cost effective , sustainable menu choices as standard , as dairy and meat go up in

price , chefs are going to have to be more creative and customers more open to new menu choices .

“ We can ’ t dictate to our customer that they can ’ t have the beef at their award ceremony . That ’ s not what we ’ re about . There are other ways within the menu that we can balance out our carbon footprint ,” he continues .

Dutson echoes the point , saying it ’ s not about removing certain items from the menus , but rather