Out-of-home food businesses can make a difference by sourcing meat and dairy products with known origin and excellent traceability, as well as incrementally switching to using animal products produced to ‘better’ standards. Businesses will need to engage with producers and the entire food chain will need to work together to achieve this and find clear ways of communicating it to customers.
For large food service companies, developing a comprehensive sourcing policy can really make a difference, while for smaller providers engaging directly with suppliers can be a good strategy.
Sourcing better in food service means:
- Transition meat and dairy sourcing to products certified by schemes such as Organic, Pasture for Life, RSPCA Assured, and RSPB Fair to Nature. Ensure these are not limited to premium products but are available at every price point.
- The business should set a strategy for engaging with suppliers and farmers to ensure ‘better’ meat and dairy is available in the quantities needed to make the transition, while investing in the supply chain for better meat and dairy products for long term viability.
- Require suppliers to provide livestock products from animals that have eaten feed from sustainable sources, reduce the amount of cereal and soy fed to animals. Food service establishments should prioritise meat production from animals fed local feed, including from mixed farms.
- Commit to only source meat, dairy and eggs from producers and suppliers who:
- do not use antibiotics for preventative group treatments
- do not use antibiotics for routine disease prevention
- restrict the use of the ‘critically important antibiotics’ (modern cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones) and never use the last-resort antibiotic colistin.
- Define minimum quality standards that deliver good animal welfare and engage with suppliers to raise standards and improve animal welfare through their supply chain. Switch to livestock products that hold credible independent animal welfare certifications.
- Define minimum quality standards that deliver good animal welfare and sustainability benefits, that are above minimum UK legal standards.
- Put sustainability at the heart of all sourcing: focus on seasonal fruits and vegetables, and take steps to source imported products such as nuts, tropical fruits, cocoa and fish from verifiably sustainable sources.
