Why we're working together
Why we're working together
Our food system has a huge impact on our planet: it drives habitat and nature loss, uses massive amounts of water, and contributes to climate change. Diets that are high in meat, dairy and processed food are particularly resource-intensive. To meet the Triple Challenge - addressing climate change and nature loss while continuing to produce the food we need - we must put food production on a sustainable footing.
That’s where our partnership with Sodexo comes in. As one of the world’s largest contract caterers, Sodexo serves a million meals each day in the UK alone, in schools, hospitals, universities, workplaces and more. Our partnership with Sodexo offers an opportunity to make a positive impact on people and planet, helping to drive the changes we need in the food system.
WWF and Sodexo have been working together since 2010. In 2020 we launched a new phase of our industry-leading partnership to promote healthy, sustainable eating and to reduce Sodexo’s carbon footprint.
What we've achieved
What we've achieved
In the UK, our partnership has focused on creating healthy and more sustainable menu choices and encouraging uptake of those choices, both in workplace and education settings.
Our 2016 Catering for Sustainability report set out a business case for sustainable meals, showing that adopting sustainable menus can improve profits and reduce supply chain risks – as well as helping to save the planet.
By combining WWF’s Livewell principles for a sustainable diet with Sodexo’s own commitments under its Better Tomorrow ethos, we worked together to create tasty, low-carbon meals that meet people’s nutritional needs, including Sodexo’s Green & Lean range in 2017.
We piloted our ‘Finer Diner’ initiative at universities across UK 2019 including a pop up food stall introducing students to plant-based alternatives to their favourite treat meals like tacos, kebabs and curry, and created Finer Diner resources for schools to support sustainable meal choices
We’ve also co-created a global guide to sustainable eating to inform recipe development across the Sodexo Group and provided technical guidance to support Sodexo in setting out its definition of low carbon meals.
What we're doing
What we're doing
WWF's 2023 report Sustainable Eating: Pulling the Levers in Food Service, commissioned through the WWF Sodexo partnership, sets out how the sector can help accelerate progress on sustainable diets, from setting ambitious targets, to aligning with clients on key sustainability goals, to engaging customers with delicious and nutritious plant-forward and plant-based meals, while ensuring what’s offered on the menu has been sourced as sustainably as possible.
In the UK, WWF is currently working with Sodexo to help promote sustainable choices to customers, support chefs to select lower impact ingredients, and explore how we can encourage healthy and sustainable choices in school settings.