Foodservice News and Information

Latest Foodservice News information for businesses, consumers, restaurants, school and hospital cafeterias, catering operations and food service industry providers.

Higher wages can prevent Brexit staff shortfall – M Restaurants owner

London-based M Restaurants Group is to introduce a £10 per hour starting wage today (March 1st). The rate is £2.17 higher than the national living wage (NLW) for those aged over 25 (£7.83), and almost double the £5.90 minimum for those aged between 18 and 20. However, it is still below the “real living wage”…

Rebuilding trust, robotic workers and reducing resources – Compass CEO’s future of food speech

Dominic Blakemore, group chief executive of Compass Group, delivered the 2019 City Food Lecture this week. Here are some of the key quotes from his speech. On a broken system… “Food will define the future more than any other sector. It has the greatest impact on the environment and public health. Global demand for food, even…

Stella Cast to Judge Footprint Drinks Sustainability Awards in association with Matthew Clark

Footprint announces the judging panel for the inaugural Footprint Drinks Sustainability Awards which is open for entries only until April 8th. Although well known throughout the industry, short biographies of the judges can be found on the Awards site. Michael Alexander, Global Head of Water, Environment & Agriculture Sustainability, Diageo Rozanne Davis, Head of…

Restaurants stand to scoop food waste windfall

Restaurants that invest in food waste reduction could see a 600% return on their investment, according to a new report. Research for the World Resources Institute (WRI) for the Champions 12.3 coalition studied 100 restaurants across 12 countries to explore the savings they made from reducing kitchen waste. They found that for every US$1 restaurants…

Amaranth and moringa on the sustainability menu

Ancient grains and novel vegetables should become more mainstream to ensure that future diets are healthier and more sustainable, according to a joint report from Knorr and WWF. The Future 50 Foods report identifies 50 foods that the authors say should be eaten more commonly because they are nutritious, have a lower impact on the…

Michael Gove has promised that post-Brexit food standards will be not be lowered after coming under pressure from farmers at the NFU’s annual conference. Questioning Gove during a Q&A session after his speech in Birmingham, NFU president Minette Batters asked the Environment Secretary to put a guarantee in writing that he would support a new…

The British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) has launched a practical guide to portion sizes called “Find Your Balance”. The guide uses simple hand and spoon measurements to help consumers estimate appropriate portions, when cooking and serving food. It is designed to complement the Government’s Eatwell Guide, which provides guidance on the proportions of the main food…

Government told to delay plastics consultations

Food groups are pushing for consultations on a plastics tax and a new deposit return scheme to be postponed while the industry deals with the fallout from Brexit. Sky News reported this week that 32 trade associations, including UK Hospitality and the Food and Drink Federation, have written to Environment Secretary Michael Gove saying they…

Brits urged to eat more mackerel after Brexit

The government should encourage the British public to eat more oily fish species caught by British vessels after Brexit, according to a report. The most popular species in the UK like cod and haddock have to be largely imported, while species that are plentiful in UK waters such as mackerel and herring are mostly exported…

Link farm payments to obesity plans, say experts

EU Member States should be required to develop healthy diet plans in order to unlock farm payments, according to a new report. The idea is one of 80 concrete proposals set out in a new Common Food Policy for Europe which also calls for food suppliers to be accountable for ensuring their supply chains are…