Caterlink becomes first school caterer to receive Soil Association's Green Kitchen Standard

Caterlink has become the first school caterer to achieve the Soil Association's Green Kitchen Standard for its commitment to achieving high sustainability standards and good environmental management for schools in Islington.

The standard was awarded to the specialist education caterer following an assessment, including site visits and an independent expert assessor to score the company's level of sustainable practice.

Auditors were impressed with the caterer's environmentally friendly use of energy, eater consumption and waste generation.

Neil Fuller, Caterlink's managing director said: "Caterlink is incredibly proud to have been awarded the Green Kitchen Standard, as it represents our sustainable ethos, and reflects the hard work we have put in to achieving this. We try to run our operation at the highest possible level whilst minimising our impact on the environment and making a positive contribution to the future of sustainable practice. This is why we couldn't be happier that our contribution has been recognised by this prestigious award and the first school caterer to achieve this for its schools."

Launched in May 2017, the Green Kitchen aims to get caterers thinking about sustainability issues that arise in food service and educate them on how to engage with customers, train staff, monitor resources, implement best practice and achieve continuous improvements.

Clare McDermott, the business development director of Soil Association Certification, said: "This unique standard supports caterers to not just focus on the quality and sustainable sourcing of the food and ingredients, but also on providing those meals with less energy, less waste and less impact on the environment. Caterlink have displayed their dedication to sustainable catering through their focus on great environmental management which has earned them the right to receive this new and exciting award".

The Soil Association was founded in 1946 by farmers, scientists, doctors and nutritionists to promote the connection between the health of the soil, food, animals, people and the environment. Soil Association Certification certifies over 70% of all organic products sold in the UK.

It also audits other schemes within catering and forestry, including the Food for Life Served Here, and the FSC and PEFC forestry standards internationally.

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