Good to Go has been developed to change the culture around leftovers and save food from the bin by giving customers an easy way to take uneaten food home.
Research has revealed that customers are keen to be offered ‘doggy bags’, however two fifths are too shy to ask. Restaurants participating in Good to Go, where customers are proactively offered doggy bags, have reported average food waste reductions of 42% and have been pleased to learn that customers overwhelmingly welcome the service.
Every year, 53,500 tonnes of food is wasted from Scottish restaurants, costing an estimated £64 million. Around two-thirds of this food waste could have been avoided and 34% of this is estimated to be ‘plate waste’ – good food left by the customer at the end of the meal.
Good to Go is a great opportunity to enhance your sustainability credentials by being part of a recognised national initiative. By providing the customer with a box and sticker containing safety instructions from Food Standard Scotland, it also addresses safety issues. Some restaurants have also said that being part of Good to Go actually improves sales as customers who weren’t sure if they could manage additional courses ordered them anyway and took some home.
Zero Waste Scotland are now offering FREE starter packs of 300 boxes, bags and communication materials to businesses employing up to 250 employees. Help us achieve Scotland’s world-leading target to reduce food waste by 33% by 2025.
To order your free starter pack or to find out more, contact us at goodtogo@zerowastescotland.org.uk or phone 0141 227 2319.
Learn more at http://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/GoodToGo
This Christmas, Edinburgh Community Food are offering you a great way to say thanks to your clients or customers.
Christmas Hampers are now available to order, with prices starting from £15 which includes free delivery. The hampers include a range of jams and chutneys, dressings, oatcakes, dried fruits and more – all presented in a wrapped up, professional gift basket.
Gift vouchers are also available and can be added to the hamper. For more information please contact Karen and Edinburgh Community Food, kmiller@edinburghcommunityfood.org.uk or 0131 467 7326.
A healthier workforce is rated as one of the top five ‘people’ issues on the agenda for any Business.
With some adults spending up to 60 per cent of their day at work, it’s an obvious place to positively influence eating habits and health behaviours. Research has shown that adopting healthy workplace initiatives can:
- Reduce employee absenteeism
- Increase employee morale
- Improve productivity and ultimately business performance
An increasing number of businesses are now focusing on health in the workplace and fruit to the office has become very popular. At Edinburgh Community Food our fruit is sourced from quality local suppliers at competitive prices ensuring we get great deals for our customers. Our fruit boxes are delivered direct to work places and we cater for businesses of all sizes.
Meal kits are reinventing the way we shop and cook. They offer busy people and their families exactly what’s required to cook healthy cost effective meals without the hassle of shopping or leftovers.
At Edinburgh Community Food we have developed eight healthy and affordable meal packs (incl. soups, stews, chillies and curries) – our take & make DIY meals are vegetarian and have everything required to make delicious, nutritious meals – meats and fish can of course be added!
Whilst we do our utmost to keep the costs meal packs as low as possible, we know that not everyone can afford to buy fresh ingredients to cook delicious healthy meals.
That’s why Edinburgh Community Food operates a ‘Pay it Forward’ scheme for our take & make DIY meals. For every £1 donated we’ll sell a DIY meal pack for £1 cheaper to someone who will really appreciate this.
To order fruit to the office, meal kits or require more information on Edinburgh Community Food contact Karen at kmiller@edinburghcommunityfood.org.uk or call 01314677326. Packs may be picked up from collection points or delivered free of charge, £15 minimum order for Edinburgh & surrounding areas only.
Food lovers in Edinburgh and the Lothians are being invited to put their taste buds to the ultimate test by trying out new food and drink products before they hit the supermarket shelves.
The Scottish Centre for Food Development and Innovation at Queen Margaret University (QMU), Edinburgh is looking for eager foodies to join its Food & Drink Consumer Tasting Panels during the year ahead.
The Centre works with a broad range of food and drink businesses to help them to develop new and innovative products, reformulate existing products and carry out consumer focus groups and taste panels.
Taste panel members get the unique opportunity to try out a range of new food and drink products for the first time, including meat, fish, confectionery, juices, dairy products, vegetables and desserts. Panel members may also be asked to sample existing food products already sold in supermarkets to gain important information about consumer preferences.
Taste panels usually last around 30 to 40 minutes and participants provide views on a number of food and drink products, including aroma, appearance, texture and flavour.
People taking part in the tasting panels are rewarded after each session attended with either a £10 Amazon or John Lewis voucher.
Phil Cook, Food Technologist at the Scottish Centre for Food Development and Innovation at QMU, said: “We’re keen to hear from anyone in Edinburgh and the Lothians who loves food a drink. Our Consumer Tasting Panels are a great way for people to help develop the latest food and drink products and assist food companies with their business development. Panelists are also pleased to receive a voucher for their participation.”
“QMU’s Scottish Centre for Food Development and Innovation is continuing to enhance Scotland’s position as a leader in food and drink innovation in Europe and supporting access to the global market for healthy and functional food.
“Through practical innovation support and creative business solutions, QMU is helping Scotland’s leading food and drink businesses with new and innovative product development and analysis; as well as the development of leading edge functional, health enhancing products and ingredients and formulation of existing products.”
For more information on the QMU Food & Drink Consumer Tasting Panel and to sign up, email: Consumerpanels@qmu.ac.uk
An Edinburgh-based food company has its sights set on healthy growth after extending its research and development capability via a partnership with a Scottish university.
Gluten-free food specialist, Genius Foods, has entered into a partnership with the Scottish Centre for Food Development and Innovation at Queen Margaret University (QMU), where its team is now operating from a specialist new food science laboratory.
With a strong research background in supporting the development of Scotland’s food and drink businesses, Genius Foods identified QMU as the academic partner with the most suitable facilities for developing its own recipes and product range.
Food scientists at QMU have provided expert training to the Genius Foods team on ways to measure the texture, colour and flow properties of its products using specialist equipment.
Genius Foods will also have access to the Centre’s fully-equipped sensory suite facility, which allows experts to measure people’s perceptions of food and drink products’ attributes, including appearance, aroma, texture, flavour and after taste.
QMU’s team of food innovation experts regularly provide its clients with consumer focus groups, taste panels, nutritional analysis and shelf-life testing.
Dr Julien Lonchamp from QMU’s Scottish Centre for Food Development and Innovation, said: “We’re very pleased to be providing specialist research and development facilities and training for Genius Foods. The specific combination of sensory and analytical facilities that we offer at QMU was previously unavailable elsewhere in Scotland, so research work was often sent to England or Northern Ireland instead.
“Through practical innovation support and creative business solutions, QMU is continuing to help leading food and drink businesses, like Genius Foods, with new and innovative product development.”
Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne, Founder of Genius, added: “The partnership with Queen Margaret University demonstrates our ongoing commitment to producing market-leading gluten free bakery products. While an element of our R&D will remain in-house, we are working in partnership with the Scottish Centre for Food Development and Innovation, which will enable us to have an even deeper understanding of the behaviour of our core ingredients. We look forward to working with QMU to take our recipes and product range to the next level.”
The Scottish Centre for Food Development & Innovation is enhancing Scotland’s position as a leader in food and drink innovation in Europe and supporting access to the global market for healthy and functional food. Facilities include a dedicated chemistry laboratory and a technology room for industry to test new technology.
For more information about the Scottish Centre for Food Development & Innovation and how it can benefit your business, contact Miriam Smith, Business Development Manager at QMU on 0131 474 0000 or email MSmith3@qmu.ac.uk or visit
www.qmu.ac.uk/research_knowledge/scottish-centre-for-food-development-and-innovation.aspx
For more information on Genius Foods, visit www.geniusglutenfree.com
