Lexington Catering has been awarded the CSR award at the Contract Catering Awards, held at the Leonardo Royal Hotel, Tower Bridge last month.
The company states it is passionate about providing “great food and service in a way that is trustworthy and sustainable” from responsible sourcing and reducing waste to redistributing food to those in need and supporting the local communities where it operates.
In recognition of its actions, it has achieved the highest rating from The Sustainable Restaurant Association which defines sustainability for the sector, assesses behaviour, measures actions and celebrates progress.
The company has carried out a range of initiatives to support its sustainable goals such as:
- Introduced ‘Green Force Champions’ at every site to champion sustainability
- Launched an Eco point scheme to encourage customers to choose low carbon dishes with greener choices resulting in over 200 trees being planted last year
- Launched its energy reduction programme to ensure collaboration with clients to gather data to assess the carbon footprint per meal against key metrics which highlight the best practices and behaviours to drive down gas and electricity usage
- Partnered with Change Please resulting in over 100 people being lifted out of homelessness; 46 trainees gaining employment and 23 people being employed as baristas at Lexington sites
- Introduced Chef’s Eye at all sites to monitor and measure food waste and to identify where menus and food preparation methods can be adapted to reduce food waste
- Supported Olio to reduce food waste and redistribute food to those in need, helping to feed 3,400 households across the UK
- Partnered with Angry Monk and rescued 648kg of imperfect fruit and vegetables
- Introduced its Trashed concept to create meals made out of surplus ingredients
- Volunteered at Refettorio Felix – a charity that provides meals to the vulnerable made with 100% surplus ingredients – and prepared and served over 8,000 meals
- Worked with New City College, Hackney, to provide training for the unemployed
- Partnered with Bottle Up and Water Unite to support clean water projects.
Managing director Matt Wood said: “We are so proud to have won this award as CSR is critical to how we do business. It supports one of our core values, established when we were founded in 2002, to respect clients, colleagues, suppliers and the planet’. I would like to thank all those in the team who work so hard to ensure that we are doing all we can to act responsibly and sustainably wherever we can.”
Lexington Catering is part of Elior UK which was awarded the CSR award at the Contract Catering Awards in 2022.
