In a bid to increase the green credentials of food producers and catering establishments across Scotland, one of the leading foodservice providers, Bidfood Scotland has launched details of its new sustainable initiative, Source, Serve, Sustain.
To launch the initiative, Katie Sillars, Bidfood Scotland’s Supplier Development Manager, is taking on the gruelling challenge of cycling to sustainably deliver and launch the new Bidfood Scotland brochure to a series of customers along a 120 mile route from Bidfood Scotland’s Edinburgh depot to their depot in Oban.
With sustainability at the heart of their local sourcing initiative, Bidfood Scotland is seeking to provide customers and suppliers with the inspiration to switch to a greener way of working. This includes presenting locally-sourced Scottish produce, showcasing best practice amongst green-minded sector organisations, as well as working in collaboration with sustainability experts to support customers on their green journey.
Championed by Sillars, the initiative aims to work with more Scottish suppliers, and support existing suppliers that aim to be act greener across food production, packaging, and waste management systems.
Supplying over 5,000 customers across Scotland, the brochure features over 100 Scottish suppliers and 600 products and includes meat, game, fish & seafood, dairy, bakery and drinks, sourced from the length and breadth of Scotland. It highlights products that have particularly strong sustainability credentials, as well as fully compostable packaging and eco-friendly initiatives.
Sillars explains the company’s new sustainable approach, “As Scotland has such a fantastic larder, being able to source local Scottish products, along with your main food and drink basket in one delivery, can be a key step to being more sustainable.
“The focus will be on demonstrating to caterers how to communicate the quality and sustainability credentials of the food on offer to their customers. That way, they can benefit from a more informed consumer who is willing to pay that little bit extra for a quality product that is carefully sourced with absolute provenance.”
The foodservice provider is expanding its partnerships to include working in partnership with Green Tourism to offer customers credible, trustworthy and independent guidance on increasing its sustainability credentials.
Andrea Nicholas, Managing Director, Green Tourism, said, “I’m delighted for Green Tourism to partner with Bidfood Scotland. We aim to support businesses on their green journey, by using quality local produce and eco products like the ones sold through Bidfood’s Simply Scottish range.
“We will be launching our free 'green check' and a series of zero carbon workshops in the form of online webinars for Bidfood Scotland customers over the next few months.”
Green Tourism will also run a series of workshops for Bidfood Scotland’s clients, designed to provide catering managers, cooks and chefs with pragmatic advice on how to switch to a more sustainable way of serving up great food that tastes great and doesn’t have a negative impact on the planet.
Sillars will start and end her cycle in accommodation which holds a Green Tourism award. You can follow the cycle on Twitter using the hashtag #SourceServeSustain via @BidfoodUK. Along the route, Katie will deliver the brochure to Bidfood customers that are passionate about sourcing and serving local products as well as acting sustainably.
The Bidfood Scotland brochure is available online at https://www.bidfood.co.uk/our-products/our-catalogues/
Bidfood Scotland is currently a partner with Visit Scotland’s ‘Taste our Best’ accreditation to promote Scottish produce on the menu.