Sodexo x Oasis partnership sees food waste reduction of 43%

Oasis and Sodexo first partnered over 12 years ago, with Sodexo providing the catering for many of the Oasis academies across the country. Today, their Food & Co offer provides breakfast, morning break and lunch to 28,000 Oasis pupils, as well as hospitality services.

Since 1 September 2022 Sodexo’s food waste reduction programme, WasteWatch, has reduced food waste by 43% in Oasis academies, preventing 115 metric tonnes of CO2 and the equivalent of 30,249 meals.

Sodexo began the rollout of its WasteWatch programme at Oasis in May 2021 and this academic year we have seen significant progress on reducing food waste in the school meals service.

Steve Hawkins, Managing Director, Schools, Sodexo UK & Ireland said: “This is a fantastic achievement and I’d like to thank the schools and our catering teams for their commitment to reducing food waste.  We are committed to working together to ensure Oasis academy students enjoy tasty, nutritious school meals every day, and to help raise awareness of not only the importance of a well-balanced diet but how small changes can make a big difference.”

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has always been a key focus for Sodexo and Oasis. In June 2022 Sodexo appointed Elizabeth Axon as social responsibility and engagement manager specifically to help maximise Sodexo’s initiatives across Oasis academies which not only include the WasteWatch programme but also carbon labelling at its secondary schools and the new partnership with Rethink Food’s Futures programme to provide Oasis academy students with exciting learning opportunities with tower gardens, soil-free tower gardens enable the children to grow fresh produce from seed to salad in 60 days.

Sodexo and Oasis were highly commended for the Sustainability in Education category at the Footprint Awards in recognition for their approach to embed sustainability across the contract.

John Barneby, Chief Operating Officer of Oasis Community Learning added, “We are working on becoming the most sustainable family of schools in the sector and food is a key part of this strategy. Partnering with Sodexo has enabled us to create real change within our academy catering and inform our young people on sustainable food-choices. We look forward to continuing to see the improvements over the coming years as together we educate the next generation about the changes they can make to have a positive impact on the planet.”