Savona Foodservice, already renowned for its service and pioneering innovations, is now taking great strides into the realms of environmentalism and sustainability. The company’s sustainability innovations include being the first wholesaler in the South West of England to remove all single use plastics from its range, and working with suppliers to offer eco-friendly solutions such as fully biodegradable packaging made from seaweed.
Wi th a goal of being carbon neutral by 2025, food and beverage wholesaler Savona Foodservice is breaking ground in the sustainability sector with an innovative and passionate mindset.
The Savona story starts in the 1960s with simple, family begin nings in Oxford, yet much has changed. The rich history remains today, as do the company’s honest and transparent ethics. Savona Foodservice provides outstanding, innovative service to education, healthcare, hospitality and workplace caterers from its three depots in Oxford, Devon and London.
Live it, breathe it
When it comes to the topic of sustainability at Savona Foodservice, Kelly Williams, Director and General Manager of the Devon depot, said the company wanted to live and breathe sustain ability, rather than just pay the term lip service. To fully under stand and calculate its carbon emissions, Savona teamed up with climate action strategy business, Climate Partner.
“We realised the work involved to measure our carbon foot print accurately required the correct tools and expertise, and therefore invested in Climate Partner. They demonstrated to us that they are very passionate about the outcome. We are impressed with their data collection resource and receive prac tical solutions and advice without the jargon. We are now on a clear journey to reach carbon neutrality by 2025,” said Ms Williams.
Savona Foodservice has already reduced 12% of its carbon emissions by choosing a provider that uses solely renewable energy. The company has also introduced a fleet transition plan across commercial vehicles, which will result in an increase of electric cars and vans.
Back in 2018, Savona Foodservice became the first wholesaler in the South West to eliminate single use plastics from its range a nd was forward-thinking in sourcing alternative suppliers and brands. By introducing items such as paper straws, plant-based t akeaway products, and eco-conscious brands, the company empowers its customers, and their customers, to confidently refuse single-use plastic products.
A n example of the company’s innovative sustainable products is a range of biodegradable food containers made from seaweed , which are designed to fully degrade within six weeks. A typical cardboard food box either has synthetic additives added directly into the pulp or a coating made from PE or PLA, or both. These plastic and synthetic additives make it impossible to decompose or recycle. In contrast, the new range of food containers stocked by Savona are made from a 100% vegan seaweed-based alternative. Put simply this range performs like plastic and degrades like a piece of fruit. It is a practical product, and delivers a powerful message that opera tors can share with their customers on site and via social media.
Savona’s latest step to help the environment is a transition from printed business cards to digital cards. This works by displaying a QR code on staff mobile phones. Customers then scan the code on their own phone, and contact details are automatically transitioned and stored. Simple, measurable, sustainable practice.
Our target is to be Carbon Neutral by 2025
Proud members
S avona Foodservice supplies over 4,500 items to its customers, of which 800 are the company’s own brand, Country Range, which covers basic ingredients and finished showstoppers. Country Range is constantly evolving its products and range to meet clients’ changing needs and demands, as well as responding to the latest food trends.
Ms Williams said: “We are proud to be a member of the Country Range Group. This gives us access to uniquely manufactured prod ucts made to a high specification. In the current climate, especially with food price inflation, it’s beneficial and critical that we can offer our customers a consistent own brand alternative that can sit along side well-known household brands. This gives caterers the option of a value for money range without the need to compromise on quality.”
The Country Range Group has eliminated 57 tonnes of non-recy clable black plastic materials from its supply chain per year. The next project is to switch products from white cardboard boxes
to brown cardboard to further reduce footprint and improve recycled content of its plastic packaging.
In line with Veganuary 2022, Savona Foodservice, as part of its sustainability strategy, enhanced its plant-based offering by adding a further 50 products. Ms Williams said: “The company doesn’t see plant based options as a trend, it is a way of life, an expectation, and the range we now offer helps our customers –and their customers in turn – to make sustainable decisions.”
People make the difference
We can all recognise that the current economic climate is producing several concerns with regards to rising costs and supply chain issues. Food prices have seen one of the largest increases in living memory. To tackle such issues, companies are having to adapt, and Savona Foodservice is actively doing so through their service and solutions.
“The key to providing outstanding, reliable service comes down to two points,” said Ms Williams. “The first is honest, transparent com munication to our valued customers, and second is looking after our team members that work so hard behind the scenes. We believe a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay and are now an accredited Living Wage employer.”
Savona is also supporting working with disadvantaged people and has been awarded the Disability Confident Committed standard as a result.
“We can all recognise that the current economic climate is producing several concerns with regards to rising costs and supply chain issues. Food prices have seen one of the largest increases in living memory. To tackle such issues, companies are having to adapt, and Savona Foodservice is actively doing so through their service and solutions.”
The company’s ‘people and planet’ ethos ties together nicely, as the business has plenty of ideas for its cultural future to encourage employees to consider their own impact on the envi ronment and make positive change.
Digital sustainability and service Savona has focused on reviewing and streamlining its IT architec ture into a single suite of online systems, in order to offer the best in service.
As more high-tech solutions continue to breeze through the food industry, Savona Foodservice has been at that cutting edge for a number of years. An online ordering platform powered by artificial intelligence was launched back in 2019, and now sees 60% of cus tomer sales due to the effortless convenience it affords. Another first in UK foodservice was launched last year: Live Order Tracking, allowing customers to plan their day safe in the knowledge of when their delivery is due. The live notifications confirm your order and despatch, show how far away your delivery is, and even informs you of your driver and vehicle.
Savona continues to evolve in making its systems and services the envy of the sector. Implementing a new warehouse management system and ePod devices into the operation has resulted in a signifi cant reduction of paper, yet another environmental achievement.
When you are handling ambient, chilled, frozen, butchery, fresh produce and non-food items, the pressure to be efficient is an absolute priority.
Ms Williams concluded: “We aspire to continue leading the way. Having acquired a third depot in London earlier this year will enable us to build many more long-lasting relationships, through honesty, care and great service, which is what we’re good at. We’re proud of o ur sustainability and digital achievements so far and feel excited about the innovative plans we have to grow our successes further.” n www.savonafoodservice.co.uk
