Cool Food Pro
Catering for a sustainable future
Food production creates a quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. In two years, 37 caterers in the UK and 74 in France have been supported by Cool Food Pro to reduce their environmental impact and save 1,530 tonnes of CO2e through small modifications to working practices.With governmental pressures and the rise of corporate responsibility, organisations from all sectors are setting targets towards net-zero carbon emissions. These targets can often feel challenging and potentially out of reach. In its first two years, Cool Food Pro supported caterers across Europe to reduce their environmental impact – read on to find out how you can become a part of the change.
What is Cool Food Pro?
Cool Food Pro is a carbon calculator that makes reducing the environmental impact of your catering practices easy. The calculator tells you what environmental and financial savings you could achieve by making small changes like serving less but better meat or sourcing vegetables locally. Free resources on the Cool Food Pro website help you to share your work and impact, so demonstrating your commitment to sustainability has never been easier.Cool Food Pro gives caterers the opportunity to discover how their working practices are impacting on their environmental footprint and to be supported to make positive changes. Caterers using Cool Food Pro will be a leading example for others in the sector to follow.
Become a Cool Food Pro Caterer - sign up today.
How Cool Food Pro helps caterers lower their carbon footprint
Caterers can make key changes, that reduce their environmental impact, including:- Sourcing more local, seasonal and organic produce
- Using less but better meat and fish
- Reducing food and plastic waste
Whether you are just starting out or already have some systems in place, Cool Food Pro can help you reduce your carbon footprint. If you would like more information on how to sign up as a Cool Food Pro site, please get in touch.
Cool Food Pro 2021 - 2023
The initial Cool Food Pro project had a total budget of €1.2m, of which €832,825 was co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund via the Interreg France (Channel) England programme. The project was led by Université de Bretagne Occidentale, who were joined by four other French and UK partners, including The Soil Association. Support was offered to caterers within a specific funded area, around the coastal regions of the UK and Northern France.Discover the report outlining the project here.
Cool Food Pro 2023 and Beyond
The Soil Association are supporting the national roll-out phase of the programme. This will enable all caterers across the UK to sign up to the carbon calculator and website member portal, both of which are free to use. In addition to this, a range of subscription packages and consultancy support can be purchased to enable greater reach and impact which includes online staff training, onsite delivery of educational workshops, case studies and social media content. Please contact dtaylor@soilassociation.org for more details.
