Sustainable food

Our commitment to improving sustainability in catering.

Providing high-quality, sustainable food

Our student and staff demographic is hugely diverse in every way and we aim to provide an equally diverse, vibrant and sustainable food and drink offer.

UWE Bristol Hospitality Services are committed to providing good quality, locally sourced food across all our outlets. We encourage and support a healthy, active lifestyle, and offer a wide range of meals which promote a balanced diet.

Fresh fruit from a local supplier

Our suppliers

We work with suppliers to encourage proximity purchasing to minimise food miles. By locally sourcing food and ingredients, we contribute to thriving local economies and sustainable livelihoods whilst avoiding damaging natural resources and reducing our contribution to climate change.

Free range eggs

We use free range shell eggs from Reynolds Fruit and Veg, Total Produce and Cotswold Dairy. We have been awarded the Good Egg Award in conjunction with Compassion in World Farming.

Please note: From Monday 21 March all free range egg producers are required by law to change the wording on their eggs from “free range” to “barn eggs”. Government vets have decided that free range hens should be kept indoors for a further short period to continue to protect them from the threat of avian influenza (bird flu). This means all free range hens will have been housed indoors beyond the 16 weeks allowed to market them as free range.

As these are free range hens temporarily housed for their welfare, producers will continue to use free range packs, however, each pack will be marked with the words “Barn eggs”. In addition, each egg will be marked with a number 2 to signify that it is a barn egg, for example 2UK54321, which is explained on each pack.

We will keep you updated as the situation evolves.

Please visit freerangeinfo.com for further information.

Fairtrade

In line with our policy on sustainability, and commitment to principles of fairness and equality, we are committed to supporting, promoting and using Fairtrade goods and has worked hard to achieve accreditation.

We sell:

  • Fairtrade bananas
  • Fairtrade tea, coffee and hot chocolate, all accompanied by Fairtrade sugar sachets
  • Fairtrade smoothies and juices
  • A selection of cakes, chocolates and snacks

We actively support Fairtrade Fortnight and work with our suppliers to increase our range and sales of Fairtrade products across the university.

Marine Stewardship Council

UWE Bristol uses sustainable seafood products which have been certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). We never use fish from the MSC ‘fish to avoid list’.

Organic milk

All our fresh milk is organic as standard. Our milk is supplied by a local dairy farm based in Tewkesbury which uses dairy farms within a 30 mile radius of their site.

Red Tractor Assured

We use Red Tractor Farm Assured beef, chicken, pork and lamb from John Sheppard Butchers. Some fruit and vegetables are also farm assured, purchased from a few of our other suppliers. By using Red Tractor Farm Assured meat, we can trace all our meat back to independently inspected farms in the UK which must meet safety, hygiene, and animal welfare standards.

Seasonal and local produce

All our prepared vegetables are supplied from Reynolds Fruit & Veg and Total Produce, which sources their produce from local farms in the South West. Therefore we can provide vegetables which are local and seasonal. For certain types of produce there are periods where particular produce is simply unavailable or supply is restricted; so we have to purchase from alternative sustainable sources.

SOIL Association Food for Life Silver Catering Mark

The Catering Mark addresses many of the food quality issues that concern us all. It ensures our meals are made up of seasonal, traceable, healthier, sustainable and fresh ingredients, free from trans fats and nasty additives.

Sustainable food plan targets

Our 2030 strategy targets are contained in our sustainability policy and strategy documents. We aim to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of our catering whilst offering a quality affordable and inclusive service inspired by what we are already doing and plan to do in the future.

  • Soil Association Food for Life logo
  • Fairtrade University Award working towards logo
  • Gold food city logo
  • United Nations Ecosystem Restoration logo

Allergens

We provide transparent advice about products that contain allergens. If you are unsure of anything, please feel free to contact us.

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