Giulia, have you always liked to cook? And what is the most complicated brief a client has given you so far? Who would be your dream client to cook for?
LOVE aubergines, this sounds like an incredible dish!
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Hi Giulia,
Lovely to e-meet you! I am a newcomer in the events industry and i want to approach my work with more sustainable options for our catering. How do you think i should go about this conversation? Obviously i will be mentioning the INCREDIBLE benefits being actively conscious has on the people and planet but something to ease a corporate client in shifting their old habits?
Nyomi Rose 
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In sustainability terms one of the biggest challenges we have encountered is maintaining the highest standards of food hygiene whilst trying to minimise the use of products like clingfilm and blue towel! The cleaning chemicals needed to sanitise food prep surfaces are really nasty for the environment too and we have found that the eco-friendly ones are A LOT more expensive, which is difficult to take on as a fledgling company. We have been talking to our Food Safety officer about using a steam cleaner instead which they seem very positive about. If anyone has any suggestions for alternatives we would love to hear them.
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Hi Kate. Thanks for your question. The packaging has actually been really challenging. We wanted to use the most sustainable materials available, i.e. those which can be reused and recycled. But finding the right products which also ensure the food is transported safely has been tricky and we are limited by the recycling facilities in our Council area and also by price! We have found that the most sustainable packaging options can be the most expensive.
In our Ploughman’s picnic hampers we are not providing disposable cutlery and napkins but encouraging our customers to take these from home. We will collect the outer boxes too to be re-used. We also include a ‘note on packaging’ in all of our boxes – we think it is really important that people know what the packaging is made from and how to dispose of it correctly to avoid contamination of waste streams!
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Hi Nyomi. Great question! Welcome to the events industry. Now more than ever, consumers are making choices as to which organisation and companies they buy from / work with based on their environmental and social responsibility (Corporate Social Responsibility). And so it is a big sales plus for companies to be showing they are actively engaged in this area.
The Government has now declared a Climate Emergency which is very big on the CSR agenda, with companies trying to frame their response and so catering is part of this.
I think that in reality most companies do want to actively engage in being more sustainable because they understand the benefits, both in terms of the environment but also in terms of their brand and perception to their customers. 
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Yes we agree, finding the most sustainable food packaging is difficult and there are so many things to take into consideration. Great idea to exclude some of those ‘convenience’ items from your home delivery service, especially since we are unfortunately seeing a resurgence in single use plastics because of the pandemic.
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Great reply thank you so much! I completely agree there as so many benefits to companies making choices to be sustainable. Thank you, shame i don’t live in Brighton as i fancy an Italian tonight - I am based in rainy Manchester!
I have always, always loved to cook, especially Italian food, inspired by many hours spent watching my Nonna cook. I take a lot of inspiration from Italian cuisine which uses simple, local and seasonal ingredients to create amazing, and very sustainable, food.
Often the most complicated bit of a brief is thinking about how the food / menu works with the format of the event, so guests can continue to have an amazing time with the food complementing that rather than interrupting it. We catered a barn dance recently, and designed a Sicilian street food menu with little cones of arancini circulating so guests could have a bite, have a dance, have another bite!
Dream client to cook for – that is difficult! We really like catering for niche, bespoke events where people really buy into our ethos of everything made from scratch, so maybe David Attenborough’s next book launch!
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Thanks for your response
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Thanks Nyomi. Raining here too. Let’s hope it stops soon.
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That’s a wrap folks! 
Thanks for all your questions, if you’d like to continue the conversation further, or would like to discuss sustainable catering options for your event, you can reach Giulia at giulia@gourmetgirlsuk.com
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