Modern Recipe: Elevating sustainability with whole ingredients

Modern Recipe menus are crafted to meet the evolving expectations of today’s consumers, blending health, flavor, sustainability, and affordability into every dish. We are committed to maximizing the potential of 100% of our ingredients, creating delicious meals that are as healthy for you as they are for the planet.

But how do we make this happen on a global scale? What are the core principles of Modern Recipe which ensures sustainability, affordability, health and taste?

We interviewed Lloyd Mann, Global Executive Chef and culinary lead for Modern Recipe at Sodexo who builds the global Modern Recipe menus and Aimee Moffatt, Head of Marketing for Corporate Services in the UK who helps spotlight the brand menu credentials through marketing, ensuring it resonates with the UK and Ireland target demographics.

Q. Please could you give an example of a Modern Recipe dish where sustainability was the primary consideration in its development? 

L: Certainly! We designed 25 delicious dishes based on criteria focused on health, wellness and eco-consciousness. Working in partnership with Unilever, we created these dishes which:

• Are low in carbon,
• avoid food waste
• are plant-based
• and contain Future 50 Foods ingredients

Many of these dishes are included in the Modern Recipe global menu. From a Nordic Poke Bowl with Crispy No Chicken Tonkatsu to a Savory buckwheat pancake.

Q. How do you minimalize food waste through Modern Recipe menu development?

One of the biggest ways we minimalize food waste is through using 100% of an ingredient within the same dish or on consecutive days within a menu. Some of our dishes are specifically designed to help avoid food waste. An example of this could be a soup created using carrot trimmings from the previous day.

Our chefs around the world follow a zero-waste mindset and take simple actions such as choosing the best way to store food and not peeling produce unnecessarily.

Q. How do you balance local consumer preferences with sustainable ingredient selection, seasonality and affordability?

A. In the UK & Ireland, we adapt Modern Recipe menu to meet regional tastes whilst staying true to the ethos of the brand. Our central culinary team collaborates closely with supply chain to understand seasonality and ingredient availability, ensuring we offer in-season produce throughout the year. Additionally, we continually assess our dish costs to ensure we are sourcing the highest quality ingredients at competitive prices, with the goal of making our dishes 15% more affordable than comparable offerings at high street restaurants.

We prioritize diverse, colorful dishes prepared using healthier cooking methods, supporting both our consumers’ wellbeing and the planet. Adhering to Modern Recipe principles, we focus on reducing food waste and utilizing whole ingredients in our menus wherever possible. We also encourage more varied eating, with over 33% of our menu being plant-based. Starting in January 2025, we will introduce five injections of seasonal newness per year to enhance the seasonal relevance of our menu.

Additionally, we hold a menu sign-off sessions for our central and operational teams before launching new dishes. This event provides an opportunity for key stakeholders to taste and provide feedback on the dishes, ensuring that each season’s menu is aligned with both regional preferences and our sustainability goals. 

Q. Could you give me an example of a local supplier partnership which has enhanced the sustainability of Modern Recipe dishes?

A. In addition to offering a diverse menu that utilizes seasonal ingredients, food waste-reducing cooking methods like root-to-stem and Future 50 sustainable ingredients, we also collaborate closely with partners to enhance the sustainability of our menus.

For example, we partner with Waste Knot to rescue surplus seasonal vegetables which would otherwise go to waste and use this brilliant produce in our recipes. This has rescued 57,570 kg of surplus vegetables since 2021.

Q. How do you measure the environmental impact of menu items at a local level?

A. Modern Recipe’s menus have been designed to help achieve our carbon reduction ambitions as an organization.

Our Site Engagement Assessment (SEA) carbon tool helps teams to manage sustainability performance and calculate the carbon footprint of delivering foodservices to our clients. This tool, verified externally allows to accurately measure GHG emissions at a contract level, including emissions linked to: employee commuting, supply chain, waste and client site energy.

We also use tools such as WasteWatch to measure and manage food waste in each of our Modern Recipe restaurants. Many restaurants share these metrics with consumers, showing the monthly plate waste savings to raise awareness and encourage sustainable behavior.

Q. How do you communicate your sustainability efforts to diners without compromising the dining experience?

A. We actively engage diners through onsite marketing and communication, as well as CSR activation events. For example, we recently hosted interactive talks at some of our client sites. Consumers were offered banana cake and banana skin bacon to demonstrate whole ingredient root-to-stem cooking. Additionally, a lunch menu featuring planet-friendly, plant-based options was offered to nudge diners towards more sustainable choices. In some of our restaurants, we also use carbon labelling to further encourage more sustainable eating.