A catering company of sustainable chefs

The impact of our food system on our planet is massive. Yes, that’s right, it’s scary statistic time….

Our impact is big, and it needs to get smaller. 

As a global provider of food services, we know we need to lead that change. We are the global leader in sustainable food! We employ chefs all over the world, serving 80 million people, and we are laying down the gauntlet. We want them all to be sustainable chefs!

Above all, a sustainable chef uses these techniques to enhance the taste of the dish they are preparing. Ensuring that sustainable food is also delicious is the best way to encourage more people to eat sustainable dishes.

For the third year in a row, we are inviting our chefs all over the world to take part in Cook for Change! our sustainable chef challenge. 

Through this challenge we will celebrate the immense culinary talent across our organization as well as provide learning and development opportunities for our brilliant chefs, you don’t just have a job when you work for Sodexo, you have a career and a place you can truly flourish.

To enter a chef must be proudly serving with Sodexo or its affiliated companies, based anywhere in the world, and create mouthwatering dishes which incorporate sustainably sourced ingredients and clever food waste solutions.

Round 1 is the regional chef challenge, chefs will need to impress their peers and culinary experts in their region by submitting their dish to secure a spot at the global cook-off!

Regional finalists will go through to the global final in Paris in November to showcase their skills on the world stage (basically the Sodexo edition of an Eco Master-Chef!).

Previous winners and finalists have set the culinary bar extremely high, creating delicious and inspired dishes which also make a positive impact on the planet.

Chef Dominique Doer, from France, the winner of our first ever sustainable chef challenge created a ‘land and sea’ dish; roasted vegetables, grown around the Paris region, with an iodised seaweed salad dressing. Whilst one of the finalists Chef Ashwin Iyangar, from India, created a spinach and chickpea Mappas curry with a beetroot upma and a spinach stem salad from the leftover spinach stems.

Last year the joint winners wowed the panel of experts including the German three-Michelin stars Chef Thomas Bühner with their dishes. Chef Sharon McConnell, from Northern Ireland, created a pistachio crusted celeriac steak and a vegan chocolate mousse with dates and nuts. Chef Ricardo Machado, from Brazil, created a sautéed banana peel medallion with sweet potatoes and a banana and coconut mash.

We are excited to see what this year’s entrants bring to the table (pun intended!). 

This is the third year we are holding this competition, because we know the huge difference cooking in a sustainable way, on a global scale, can make.

As a company we continue to use new ingredients and design plant-forward recipes to ensure we meet our goal of 70% of our main dishes being labelled as ‘low-carbon’ by 2030. Having a workforce full of chefs passionate about sustainability means that our ‘low-carbon’ dishes will be prepared perfectly all over the world. And this is the key thing. To change the eating habits of those who eat with us, a sustainable dish must not only be good for the planet but also good for our health and most importantly delicious!

This is just one of the ways we are working towards Net Zero by 2040!

Find out more about Sodexo sustainable food.