Local, Seasonal and Sustainable

Consumers increasingly want to know where their food comes from, how it was produced, and importantly, that their choices can impact the development of a sustainable and local food system. We take pride in increasing the availability of fresh products, reducing our environmental impact and to contributing to the livelihood of our clients' communities. Our supply experts target local and seasonal produce, and work with local farmers and producers around each of our client sites. Our balanced approach takes environmental, social and economic impacts into account as we set our goals, select products and services, and engage with suppliers.

Our customers benefit from our policy of contractually requiring our produce vendor partners to source local and seasonal foods whenever possible. In 2017, this practice resulted in over 30MM pounds of local produce purchased in the U.S. We support over 2,000 farmers and farmer co-ops, contracting with more than 75 regional fresh produce distributors in the U.S., monitoring their performance and tracking the percentage of local foods purchased. 

Sodexo engages third party organizations such as Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council and Business for Social Responsibility to ensure that we continue to have leading practices in the space of sustainable and responsible sourcing. 

Food Safety: Our Number 1 Priority

When it comes to food service, safety is a non-negotiable. For our consumers and clients, safe food service is a matter of trust. That’s why Sodexo puts significant resources toward food safety and food safety training. Our operations around the world comply with recognized industry food safety standards. Our food safety standards and systems are designed to ensure high quality safe food and service and prevent incidents.

Responsible Sourcing

We incorporate corporate responsibility into our sourcing strategies for every product category we purchase. Our balanced approach takes environmental, social and economic impacts into account as we set our goals, select products and services, and engage with suppliers. 

We're working with the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) to develop a sustainable sourcing strategy for the following priority commodities: fruits and vegetables, palm oil, soy, beef and dairy. These five are the most important for our business and have the highest environmental impact.

Our clearly defined criteria for sustainable seafood was also developed in conjunction with the World Wildlife Fund and is based on guidance from organizations including Monterey Bay Aquarium, NOAA, Seafood Choices Alliance and Greenpeace, among others and is reviewed and revised annually.  Sodexo is committed to sourcing 100% sustainable seafood by 2025 globally. 

Sodexo is the first in the industry to have a company-wide animal welfare policy. Each of our suppliers are signatory to our Animal Welfare Charter and work to continuously improve the welfare of animals in our supply chain. 

Find out more about our impact and our efforts to grow responsibly