6. Food

Collaborative Food Procurement Programme

The Collaborative Food Procurement Programme has been established to identify how public sector organisations can work together in their commercial activity when buying food, catering services and kitchen equipment, to achieve better value for money, improved sustainability and enhance quality.

This cross-governmental programme promotes collaboration in food procurement by challenging the current landscape and provides stakeholders with the opportunity to develop a more efficient and sustainable supply chain. 
 
Did you know?

• The public sector spends just over £2.1 billion on food, catering services and kitchen equipment every year
• Over 30,000 public sector organisations place orders for food every day, including schools and hospitals
• One billion meals are served in the public sector each year

More on the Collaborative Food Porcurement Programme

Useful Documents

West Midlands Food Declaration! - June 2009
Download declaration

Guidance on Food - Link to OGC Food Pages

First report from the Council of Food Policy Advisors

This report:  

a) Defines the low impact (sustainable) healthy diet.
b) Government to exemplify best practice in health and sustainability through public food procurement.
c) A strategy for increasing consumption and domestic production of fruit and vegetables.

http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/food/policy/council/pdf/cfpa-rpt-090914.pdf

Smarter Food Procurement in the Public Sector 

The public sector in England spends around

£2 billion1 per year on providing food and drink to service

users, staff, the general public, clients and visitors. This

expenditure alone makes public food procurement of

interest to Parliament and the taxpayer, in terms of seeking

assurance that this money is being spent efficiently.2

Equally, the quality and safety of public sector food are of

prime interest to the millions of adults and children who

eat it. Download Document

A fresh look at school food procurement efficiency and sustainability

This Fresh Look booklet provides practical guidance

to assist schools and local authorities to respond

to the Government’s efficiency and sustainability

agendas as they relate to school food. The

recommendations it contains will help you to

respond to a range of local and national government

policy and strategy initiatives, including:

• Defra’s Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative

• The National Improvement and Efficiency Strategy

(this includes the response to CSR07 and the

Local Government White Paper)

• DCSF’s Sustainable Schools Strategy

• The Local Government Association’s

Sustainable Procurement Strategy

The guide is aimed primarily at catering and

procurement staff, but it should also be of use

to head teachers, school governors and others

who have an interest in school food and who

wish to know what they might reasonably expect

of their suppliers. Download Document

Food Procurement  - Shopping List

• Bulk Buy
• Cut out middleman with direct sourcing
• Work with others to exploit combined buying power
• Use e-procurement tools
• Save distribution costs by joining up with others
• Source an alternative
• Work alongside product development teams
• Replace or alter ingredients
• Work with suppliers to innovate
• Replace packaging to make savings
• Think about sustainability
• Examine your supply chain “from seed to plate” for savings opportunities
• Consider short term contracts or buying on the spot market
• Don’t believe the hype: bench mark to check price credibility

How savings are achieved

Actively engage with the regional forum, this will help support local supply services

Build relationships with partner authorities to create a more coordinated approach

Create an understanding of your supply chain sources to maximise strengths and limit weaknesses

Delivery of savings and opportunities

Past Meetings