Making sustainable food, convenient

Food
Jan. 28, 2025

Sustainable food is not one size fits all, the way people view sustainability, particularly around food, varies hugely. But we know that our consumers are keen to eat more sustainably. 74% of people have a positive perception of sustainable food, according to our second international food barometer.

We also know that while working, convenience is a top driver of food choice, as the eating habits of our consumers evolve, the way we deliver food services needs to evolve too. Sustainable food needs to also be convenient food to be right for our clients and consumers. Here are some examples of how we are making convenient and sustainable food a reality all over the world:

Smart kitchens in Brazil

In Brazil we serve 195,000 meals using less energy every single day thanks to 210 Sodexo smart kitchens.

By integrating smart devices and internet connectivity, these kitchens streamline tasks and enable our teams to cook in a much more energy efficient way. Our smart kitchens use on average 32% less electricity, 21% less water, 66% less gas and are typically 20% smaller than a standard kitchen. They also generate an average 30% less food waste and require a reduced amount of oil for cooking.

Saving precious resources as well as reducing food waste doesn’t mean a compromise on quality or taste. Smart kitchen technology also reduces preparation time and enables us to always serve fresh food, as portions are instantly prepared before serving. This is much more convenient for our consumers who we know like the option to be able to eat at different times during the day. The fact that consumer satisfaction levels have increased by 12% across these 210 smart kitchens says it all.

-66%

gas consumption

+12%

consumer satisfaction

Multi-client kitchens in Chile, France and India

In France, we are reducing food waste by 36% in sites using "Prêt-à-cuisiner” (“Ready-to-cook” new food model). This concept involves ingredients being prepared at a central kitchen and then delivered to our chefs and their teams at a site. In-season products are delivered peeled and cut or precooked, always with no additives or preservatives to retain flavor and nutritional qualities. This preparation method also reduces the risk of accidents by 90%, uses 25% less energy at the site, lowers maintenance costs and uses less water.

-90%

risk of accidents

-36%

food waste

+13%

consumer satisfaction

This concept frees up our on-site team’s time to cook, season and plate products as well as to provide our consumers with a better service. This way of working also enables us to provide consumers with a greater variety of options at locations where we’ve been restricted in the past due to limited kitchen facilities on site. We’ve seen a 13% increase in consumer satisfaction from the two central kitchens which are currently supporting 12 client sites in the Paris area.

We first introduced this way of working in Chile and it will be rolled out gradually at over 150 sites in France throughout 2025. A similar model has also just launched in Hyderbad, India. This multi-client kitchen is capable of producing 25,000 healthy, fresh and delicious meals a day.

Robotic kitchen in Germany

In Germany, employees, visitors and patients at the Tübingen university hospital are able to order hot and freshly prepared meals 24/7 from a robotic kitchen from start-up GoodBytz.

With just a few clicks, consumers can select from five recipes prepared in a matter of seconds. From curries to pasta, risotto, salads or street food, the robotic cook can produce up to 150 dishes per hour.

Our employees replenish the raw or pre-cooked ingredients and pre-set recipes ensure that the quality of dishes is always consistent. The finished dishes are presented in bowls and topped with a choice of garnishes. Cleaning of the cookware is carried out by an integrated washing system.

As well as providing an essential out of hours service at a hospital for our client, meals prepared by the food robot also result in a staggering 70% less waste!

This solution isn’t a one-off, in the United States we have partnered with Automated Retail Technologies for the rollout of automated food kiosks across the country. Consumers can order cinnamon rolls, cheeseburgers, bao buns or hot sandwiches on demand in a few seconds thanks to Just Baked technology.

The research powering convenient and sustainable food

We are always looking for ways to help our chefs use more sustainable cooking techniques and provide convenient food for our clients and consumers. We are led by what matters to our consumers because these people are the employees and customers of our clients and our clients themselves. Our future food collective is constantly researching how we can enhance our menus, adding innovation, enhancing healthiness or improving sustainability. The exploration of alternative production and distribution models as well as kitchen technology has enabled us to introduce so many initiatives around the world which improve both convenience and sustainability.

We’ve even found ways to introduce sustainable cooking technology into our internal competitions. We partner with Rational to provide the very best eco-friendly cooking equipment for our competing chefs at Cook for Change! our annual sustainable chef challenge.

Delicious, convenient food which just happens to be sustainable… this is just one of the ways we are working towards Net Zero by 2040!

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