Bidfood Highlights The Importance Of Building A More Sustainable, Efficient And Resilient Industry
As caterers across the UK care home catering sector continue to face significant challenges—ranging from rising costs and inflation to staff shortages, skill gaps, sustainability demands, and tightening legislation—Bidfood has launched a series of initiatives designed to support a more sustainable, efficient, and resilient catering environment. These initiatives were unveiled during an event focused on carbon management, warehouse operational technology, and sector-specific support.
Research has shown that 27% of consumers believe the government is responsible for ensuring the sustainability of food and drink provided in institutional settings, while 32% place this responsibility on the venue and 16% on suppliers. This underscores the critical need for collaboration across the entire supply chain to improve sustainability within care home catering.
During Bidfood’s event, called ‘What’s Cooking at Bidfood?, the wholesaler revealed its plans to equip customers with the right tools and insights to make informed decisions around their carbon footprint, as well as the progress it’s made working with climate intelligence company, CarbonCloud.
The event also emphasised the need to address issues of food waste and water usage within foodservice, with Bidfood’s Development Chefs and Sustainability Team announcing the launch of a new food waste recipe book, ‘Waste not, saves lots’, with 15 recipes and expert guidance to help customers cut costs and utilise food waste.
The day also showcased steps the wholesaler has implemented to enhance the customer experience through technology. In partnership with software developers, CSD, Bidfood has created a host of bespoke software systems and a tracking tool to reduce stock waste, increase warehouse efficiency and fulfil more customer orders.
Bidfood has also improved its customer delivery notifications with ‘Smart Alerts’. Previously, customers could sign up for text or email alerts, informing them when a driver leaves a depot, with a link to a map to track them on their route. Now, customers will receive a notification when their delivery is next, and another when their order has arrived on site.
Tim Adams, Sales and Marketing Director at Bidfood, said: “As the catering sector navigates mounting pressures from sustainability demands to operational challenges, we believe the future lies in smarter, more collaborative solutions.
“Through initiatives like our carbon labelling project with CarbonCloud, cutting-edge warehouse tech with CSD, and our brand-new food waste recipe book, we’re empowering our customers to drive meaningful change, reduce waste, cut costs and build further resilience. Together, we can shape a more efficient future for the sector and be a positive force for change.”
