Health and Herts go hand-in-hand

growing number of food businesses across Hertfordshire have been recognised for their efforts to offer healthier food options and adopt sustainable practices,

The Hertfordshire Responsible Food Award celebrates businesses that promote healthier eating habits and reduce the environmental impact of their business, key priorities as more companies align with public demand for better food and greener operations.

Businesses that achieve accreditation benefit from a range of incentives, including funded food hygiene training, exclusive supplier discounts and free advertising and promotion.

Councillor Ajanta Hilton, Hertfordshire County Council’s Executive Member for Public Health and Community Safety, said: “This scheme is all about helping customers to make healthier food choices.

“It is great to see that Hertfordshire is in step with the Government’s recent announcement of a 10-year health plan to help tackle the obesity epidemic, which encourages businesses to make the healthy food choice the easy choice for consumers.

“There are worryingly high numbers of people in Hertfordshire living with excess weight and obesity and the Herts Responsible Food Award aims to help food businesses to adopt simple changes which can have a big impact, such as switching to healthier cooking oils, reducing sugar and salt content and recycling food waste.”

There are three levels of award available – gold, silver and standard. The list of businesses achieving accreditation are:

• Gold: High Leigh Conference Centre (Broxbourne), SOKA Catering and Events (East Herts), Mudlarks Cafe (East Herts), The Weeping Chef (Stevenage), Aramark at the University of Hertfordshire (Welwyn/Hatfield).

• Silver: Inn on the park (St Albans), Halseys Deli (North Herts).

• Standard: Pizza Wow (Broxbourne), Cha Kulcha (Stevenage).

One of the gold award holders, SOKA Catering and Events, was the first East Herts business to receive an HRFA, impressing the food award team with their use of local and seasonal produce, their wide variety of healthy options available and their use of whole, unprocessed foods.

Henry and Natalie Jacob, founders of SOKA Catering and Events, said: “Creating menus that promote healthy eating has always been something we are passionate about, as well as limiting our waste, sourcing locally and supporting small producers.

“We believe all of these efforts result in a better product for our clients and we continue to strive for more sustainable practices that limit our impact on the environment and provide our customers with delicious, healthy food.”

Another gold accredited business, Mudlark’s Cafe, was recognised for its commitment to using locally grown and seasonal food. The cafe, which was the very first business in 2025 to receive an HRFA, offers a wide variety of vibrant and healthy food options and caters to multiple dietary requirements.

Victoria Boscomb, former CEO of Mudlarks, said: “At Mudlarks, we are passionate about diets that are in line with nature and full of fresh fruit and vegetables.

“Our allotment vegetables are only transported a mile from the allotments to the cafe, have no packaging and are delivered fresh in reusable containers, which means we have no environmental impact through plastic waste and minimal impact as a result of transport.”

As more businesses focus on healthy eating and sustainability, the number of accreditations across Hertfordshire is expected to continue rising, with more businesses being recognised for their commitment to customers’ wellbeing.