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Ampersand Catering Environmental Policies

Organic & Ethically-Sourced Food

We are well-known for being able to source exactly the products our customers demand.  We understand today’s market and our customers and know that they are becoming more concerned about food source and sustainability. More and more frequently today, organic or fair trade products are requested.

We know that all areas of sustainability, care for the environment and ethical trading are fundamental to Regent's College and its operation. We will work with Regent's College to ensure we are using best practice and developing new environmental initiatives. We have led the way in using food from sustainable farming and fair trade and organic produce. Organic food can now be more easily sourced and we advocate the integration of more sensibly priced organic ingredients within a varied range of dishes.

Working closely with government departments has given us a real understanding of what is required for everyone to work towards the Government’s sustainability objectives.

Fair Trade and Organic Products

Our policy is to support, where feasible, the appointment of specialist regional suppliers who can provide quality produce of good provenance.

We continue to work with a range of suppliers in key product categories who provide our chefs with a wide choice of Fair Trade, Organic and Environmentally friendly products.

Produce of Good Provenance

Within our supplier auditing we assess the way in which our suppliers source and or produce their products. A successful scoring within this audit ensures that the supplier meets our standards so we can offer our customers an alternative to intensively produced food. This includes:

• Meat from humanely reared animals, free from growth promoters and feed additives.
• Chemical-free fruit, vegetables and food crops  .
• Ensure good animal husbandry practices and ensure the highest levels of due diligence and product traceability

Ethical Purchasing

The person who is responsible for managing this process is our Purchasing Manager, Terry Cook. He liaises with specialist and regional suppliers to provide our chefs with a wide choice of fresh produce and other products that meet our standards.

Our standard coffee brand sold throughout our business is Rainforest Alliance Certified. This certification is considered better than Fair Trade in that it not only looks after the communities within which the produce comes from but ensures that the ecological impact of production is sustainable.

Food Miles

Food miles continue to be a key focal point within sustainability plans. We recognise that carbon emissions can be reduced by reducing food miles however we do believe that there are many other factors that in some cases are more important than food miles.

For example, we would not consider purchasing local food that is grown under unnatural growth promoting conditions. Industrial climate enhancing machines can be more harmful to the environment than the transport which creates the food miles.

Considerations that we make when purchasing are the circumstances under which the produce is made, the ecological impact of the production and the treatment of the produce during and after production.