Elior UK’s thriving corporate social responsibility culture

Elior has released a report detailing its thriving corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme and initiatives. With the company’s deep-rooted ‘produce good, do good’ culture actively adopted by staff, Corporate Social Responsibility at Elior UK proves the company’s commitment to social good through its adoption of Elior Group’s ‘Positive Foodprint Plan’.

Charlotte Wright, CSR manager at Elior UK said: “The importance of external collaborations in CSR with suppliers, clients and partners is essential. But CSR is something else as well. It is a journey in which colleagues can take a personal stake. In just about every programme and initiative, our progress and outcomes are improved by the enthusiasm of our people.”

Elior recently won the FSM Corporate Social Responsibility Award for championing a diverse mix of initiatives. Below are just a few detailed in the report.

Green Planet
A WASTE2ZERO and Footprint Awards Runner Up, Elior is committed to reducing its environmental footprint, working towards 0 food waste in creative ways.

• Over 25 tonnes of used coffee grounds have been recycled into 15,000 bio-bean coffee logs to heat homes
• Nearly 130,000 litres of cooking oil has been recycled across the business
• Alternative plant-based Vegware packaging is now used across the business, saving 88 tonnes of carbon
• Elior’s reporting tool helps its sites to analyse and adjust menus, providing a leaner framework and creating less food waste

Healthy Diet
Elior has developed different menu concepts and programmes to encourage nutritious diets and healthy lifestyles.

• The ‘You & Life’ programme educates customers, clients and staff about health, nutrition and wellbeing via food, and is continuously updated to reflect the latest government guidance
• Menu concept ‘Vita Mojo’ enables customers to personalise meals with ‘build your own’ options which can be tailored to suit individual nutritional goals
• Menu concept ‘Elements’, has been launched to emphasise ‘star’ ingredients, focusing on freshness and raw natural foods

Customer feedback has revealed a 93% customer satisfaction rate across the business.

Sustainable Ingredients
Sourcing sustainable ingredients ensures high food standards and support for local economies.

• Food For Life Served Here endorses Elior for its commitment to good food and improving food standards with compliant ingredients
• Elior has a strict fish sourcing policy to preserve biodiversity. It follows the Marine Conservation Society’s Good Fish Guide, which ensures that ‘At Risk’ and ‘Endangered’ species never appear on Elior menus
• Purchasing fresh fruit and vegetables from e-foods provides a local supply to each Elior site, meaning low food miles and support for local suppliers and economies
• Elior holds a Dragons’ Den style forum encouraging small businesses to pitch for their products to be sold at the company’s sites

Championing employees
A believer that happy employees make for a successful workplace, Elior has various workplace schemes to encourage staff innovation and ensure proper safety and support.

• Elior’s ‘Principles of Leadership’ training course offers 93,000 hours of training to colleagues each year and has held over 290 training events in 2018
• To date, 7819 colleagues have completed allergens training, 2822 have completed food safety and H&S Level two, and 522 colleagues have been nominated for the latest Elior Awards for Excellence
• Inspired by award winning chefs, Elior created the Aspiring Executive Chefs Programme in conjunction with Sheffield University
• ‘The Bold Idea’ was introduced to commend ideas and innovation from any Elior employee, with one winner per quarter

The internal staff support scheme also encourages employees to share the causes most important to them and devote time to helping them.

The Royal Foundation’s mental health charity Heads Together has partnered with Elior, with over £20,000 raised by Elior employees and their events. Elior staff have also worked with the Marine Conservation Society, the Refettorio Felix at St Cuthbert’s community kitchen.

To download the full report and see more of Elior’s CSR initiatives, click here: https://www.elior.co.uk/sites/www.elior.co.uk/files/elior-csr-report.pdf