Marketplace

Health and well-being 
A commitment to promoting health and well-being is central not only to our corporate responsibility strategy, but to our business strategy as a whole. We recognise that the way in which we demonstrate this commitment will determine our future business success.

We provide catering to schools, hospitals, workplaces and other institutions, and through doing so supply a significant part of many people's diet. We are committed to working with our clients and Government departments to promote choice and variety to help address the issue of health and well-being. Sodexo's approach has been to adopt Government guidelines and, on an ongoing basis, we are working with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and suppliers to reduce levels of salt, sugar and fat in products and recipes.

Healthwise - is the nutrition, well-being and lifestyle philosophy of Sodexo. A commitment to a healthy lifestyle is central to every aspect of our business, and Healthwise is our way of making sure that this commitment is reflected in everything we do.

Healthwise provides guidance and advice to help employees, clients and customers make informed choices about how to achieve a balanced and healthier lifestyle. Visit the Healthwise website for more information.    
  
Sustainable procurement  
In the UK & Ireland, we serve over one million meals a day in hospitals, schools, workplaces, at leisure sites and major hospitality events. As a large-scale purchaser we are committed to the principles of sustainable procurement, but we also recognise that there is a balance to be struck between meeting the needs of our own business, adhering to government legislation and meeting the needs of clients, suppliers and consumers.

We recognise that it is important for the future well-being of the UK & Ireland that farming communities are supported and are able to contribute to our supply chains.

Direct sourcing - we have awarded the supply contract for fruit and vegetables in England and Wales to Fresh Direct and purchase products in partnership with approximately 58 UK growers - our preference is to maintain home grown products providing that all supply criteria can be met.

Ethical sourcing - Sodexo offers clients the option of certain Fairtrade products purchased by us under Fairtrade agreements. In the twelve months to 30th September 2006, we supplied 15 tonnes of Fairtrade products, the majority of which was coffee but also included chocolate and tea. We also provided 20,000 litres of Fairtrade fruit juice.

Reduction in food miles - Sodexo's logistics team is working closely with its primary distributors to simplify and strengthen the supply chain, reviewing how food can be delivered to sites more efficiently, avoiding increasing logistics costs by utilising existing deliveries.

A key benefit of these changes is a significant reduction in the number of food miles in our distribution network. Within our fruit, vegetable and meat distribution, we estimate there will be around 280,000 fewer deliveries as a result of our new strategy, meaning a reduction in delivery miles of 1.5 million a year. We estimate that our new system will save 9.68 tonnes of COČ per week, which is 465 tonnes over the year.

For more information please view our latest Corporate Responsibility Report.