King’s College London had a night to remember as they won the University Catering Award, the Sustainability Award and the Health & Nutrition Award as well as catering team member Lisa Connellan picking up the Unsung Hero Award.
The University Catering category submission highlighted that following the review of their food strategy, 350,000 hot dishes have been sold, generating a revenue in the region of £1.5m. Additional benefits include positive customer feedback, loyalty and a heathier community on campus.
Of their winning submissions, judges commented on the King's Food Team having taken "steps to reduce food waste and promote sustainability, by sourcing ingredients locally and reducing packaging waste wherever possible," and being "committed to making their menus as sustainable as possible by sharing the carbon footprint of dishes with customers so they can make informed decisions.”
Other TUCO members Queen's University Belfast and University of Edinburgh were amongst the shortlisted finalists.
Matthew White, previous Chair of TUCO, received an Outstanding Industry Contribution Award, which is not one of the regular awards, and was for the first time given to an individual rather than an organisation.
Public Sector Catering editor David Foad said afterwards: “It was a terrific awards night, a genuine celebration of the best in an industry that does such a fantastic job behind the scenes. My congratulations go to all the winners, with thanks to everyone who was nominated for making our judges work so hard over difficult decisions this year.”
On the night a charity raffle was held to raise money for hospitality charity Springboard to help it in its work to encourage young talent into the sector and re-train older applicants.
Full list of this year’s winners:
- Armed Forces Caterer of the Year Award - sponsored by Ecolog: POCS Cat Taylor - Royal Navy
- Care Catering Award - sponsored by Cereal Partners: Care UK Food and Hotel Services
- Catering College Award - sponsored by Young’s Foodservice: Cambridge Regional College
- Catering Manager of the Year Award - sponsored by Rational: June Cormie - Education Catering
- Chef of the Year Award - sponsored by Unox: Kath Breckon - NYES Catering (North Yorkshire Council)
- Contract Caterer of the Year Award - sponsored by Lockhart Aggora: Cleverchefs
- Education Catering Award - sponsored by Premier Foods: Downham Market Academy Catering Team
- Health & Nutrition Award - sponsored by Bidfood: King’s Food Team - King’s College London
- Hospital Catering Award - sponsored by Pelican Procurement Services: Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
- Innovation Award - sponsored by Birds Eye Foodservice & Green Cuisine: Compass Group One Retail Team
- Marketing Award - sponsored by Wafflemeister: Shire Services
- Outstanding Industry Recognition Award: Matthew White
- Special Contribution Award - sponsored by Middleton Foods: Nick Vadis - NHS Supply Chain: Food
- Sustainability Award - sponsored by apetito: King’s Food Team - King’s College London
- Team of the Year Award- sponsored by Essential Cuisine: Sodexo and DIO teams based in Cyprus
- Training & Apprenticeship Award - sponsored by Brakes: Andrew Cullum - Avery Healthcare
- University Catering Award - sponsored by TUCO Foundation: King’s Food Team - King’s College London
- Unsung Hero Award - sponsored by Civica: Lisa Connellan - King’s College London
- Lifetime Achievement Award - sponsored by Unilever Food Solutions: Neil Porter
