2023 Global Annual Culinary Report

Photography Acknowledgments

We extend our thanks to Chef Aymeric Halbmeyer who celebrates nature’s most beautiful ingredients with his culinary creations, food styling and camera skills. His warm photographic style inspires discovery and sparks curiosity, reminding us that the table is a place of connection and conviviality. Thank you, Chef Halbmeyer, for your extraordinary efforts in demonstrating Sodexo’s Love of Food.

Cover: Beet, Arugula and Walnut Salad. Opposite page: Chia Pudding with Fresh Berries and Peaches. This page: Sliced Fig, Herbed Hummus and Walnut Toast. All by Aymeric Halbmeyer.

JOHN WRIGHT Senior Vice President, Global Food Services

Our pursuit of culinary excellence and guest enjoyment is the foundation of our Love of Food. All over the world, Sodexo innovates and shapes dining experiences every day. This year’s report offers a glimpse of the remarkable devotion, skill and energy our chefs bring to their kitchens, communities, clients and guests.

Fueled by nutrition goals, environmentalism and guest insight, plant-based eating is experiencing immense growth. We’ve always been passionate about the food we serve, and we are equally guided by the way our ingredients are sourced. Our chefs creatively incorporate plants and sustainability into our services and menus, whether in our restaurants, retail spaces, dining venues or stadiums.

There’s a growing desire for wellness offerings and technology that delivers convenience for guests, and we see exciting opportunities to evolve and expand our offerings in this era of rapid change. We’ve created groundbreaking programs that set new global standards for our business, including Carbono Cero, Plant-Powered Mondays and Waste in Mind.

Through enrichment activities and training, we’ve offered new avenues for developing culinary skills. We launched two exciting chef competitions in 2022, inspiring our chefs around the world to be leaders in the plant-based movement. These initiatives highlight Sodexo’s commitment to address climate change, with our chefs embracing the move toward a greener diet and pioneering the shift to plant-based ingredients in our kitchens.

I invite you to delve into these culinary stories and celebrate the milestones we’ve marked this year. We’re proud of the dedicated chefs doing great things for our guests and the communities in which they live, demonstrating that our Love of Food makes an impact around the globe.

“One of the best parts of my job is spending time with Sodexo chefs from around the globe, working side by side in our kitchens. This chef dynamic exposes us to new philosophies and techniques, allowing us to see what others are doing and thinking to help us shape the future of food. I’m continuously inspired by the creativity and passion our culinary teams bring to their work, embedding sustainability in our approach to recipe and menu development so our clients and guests can enjoy authentic experiences and taste our Love of Food every time they dine with us.”

LLOYD MANN

VP Global Executive Chef, Global Food Services

Udon Soup with Bok Choy and Jammy Egg by Aymeric Halbmeyer

Leek and Asparagus Dim Sum by Chef Aymeric Halbmeyer

Our chefs the world over honor culinary tradition and cultural heritage in crafting modern dishes, honoring the seasons and the fresh ingredients available to please our guests.

Our Love of Food 01

Eating for the Future

Sodexo Empowers Guests to Make Sustainable Choices for the Planet

Everyone has a part to play in making sure our earth can sustain future generations. At Sodexo, we continuously explore new ways to support a sustainable food system, pursuing opportunities and mitigating challenges in our industry. We’re living and working in an exciting time when innovation is endless, allowing us to create food and experiences that our restaurant guests enjoy while ensuring that we’re doing it in the most environmentally friendly way possible.

Our guests want to care for themselves and the world around them, and we can support these goals every day with our menu offerings and culinary practices.

Sodexo’s Future Food Collective is making a dramatic impact in several areas, helping consumers explore choices that are best for them and focusing on creative ways to protect our planet’s precious resources. From reducing food waste and offering more plant-based dishes to exploring nutritious blue food, we are taking bold steps to address challenges in the food system and find workable solutions that ensure adequate, healthy food for everyone.

Increasing Plant-Based Choices

The term plant-based is now ubiquitous, appearing on menus and products across a spectrum of industries. At Sodexo, we offer plant-based dishes to meet both consumer demand and our wider sustainability and netzero goals. Plant-based is often synonymous with newness and experimentation as brands debut countless innovations to inspire consumers to try a plant-based lifestyle or to simply reduce the amount of animal products they consume. In fact, 39 percent of consumers indicate they have reduced their consumption of animal protein or have begun eating a flexitarian diet (Kantar, 2022).

While innovation is a catalyst for generating interest, creating exposure and providing choice, we’ve learned through an in-depth landscape analysis that health is most often the primary driver for eating plant-based, followed closely by environmental concerns. As a result, we expect demand to be centered around lessprocessed and more nutrient-dense plantbased meals. Our Food Development teams will continue to leverage this research and make whole foods a cornerstone of our future plant-based menu development, adding to the many authentic, plant-based recipes we already feature on our menus.

1 in 3 consumers has radically changed behavior with regards to environmental responsibility.

Kantar, 2022

63% of consumers see their diet as a reflection of how they view the world in which they want to live.

Kantar, 2022

Reducing Food Waste

According to United Nations Environment Programme, it’s estimated that 17 percent of global food production is wasted, representing approximately 8 to 10 percent of global carbon emissions. It’s a top-of-mind issue both for our guests and the food industry at large. We’ve seen successful initiatives from local governments and organizations to combat these challenges, but there is still a lot of work to be done. We’ve developed a new program, Waste in Mind, for our managers and culinary teams that helps to avoid food waste in our kitchens. Waste in Mind enhances the way our teams purchase, prep, cook and dispose of the food we use on-site, all while supporting the necessary creativity and innovation we need to excite our guests. The program is rooted in insight and knowledge from industry experts and designed to evolve as we optimize our waste-reduction efforts and work toward our goal of zero waste.

Embracing Blue Food

One way of supporting a sustainable food system is by ensuring there’s enough nutritious food to feed our growing population. Blue food is one way of doing that. Somewhat new to the sustainability conversation, the term blue food refers to food from aquatic animals, plants and algae that are harvested or grown in fresh water or oceans. This is a new area of focus for Sodexo, and our chefs will be developing new dishes that feature several categories of aquatic bivalves (such as mussels and clams), small pelagic fish (like anchovies and sardines) and plants and algae (such as seaweed)—some of the most sustainable forms of protein we can eat. We believe that there’s potential to shed light on these nutrient powerhouses by featuring them on our menus and delighting our guests with more choice.

As Sodexo continues its important work to ensure our business operates with a strategy of sustainability, we recognize that it’s vital to help our guests make informed decisions about the environmental footprint of their food and dietary habits. Together, we can commit to earth-friendly practices that protect and honor our natural resources and contribute to positive change with every meal that’s served and enjoyed.

Hello, Carbono Cero!

Sodexo Partners with Quorn Professionals

As consumers become aware of the impact of their dining decisions, many are choosing an environmentally friendly lifestyle. That was one of the drivers for Sodexo to partner with Quorn Professionals to roll out Carbono Cero, the world’s first carbon-neutral solution for contract catering.

Powered by four innovative meat-free ingredients, Buttermilk Style Burger, No Beef Pieces, Fillets and ChiQin Wings in 10 recipes, Carbono Cero has the potential to serve 7.5 million carbon neutral-meals globally, saving at least 7,296 tons of carbon each year. Created by culinary departments at Quorn and Sodexo, the recipes include Asian Inspired Potato Chaat & Saag Dahl, Dirty Wing Burrito Bowl, Japanese Crispy Katsu and a Louisiana Style Buttermilk Burger. Carbono Cero’s carbon-neutral recipes follow three guidelines: Quorn mycoprotein as the main ingredient, as it produces 90 percent less carbon emissions and uses 90 percent less land and water than beef production; focuses on seasonality and locality to reduce mileage between farm and plate; and no more than 500 grams of carbon each.

Malcolm Smith, Development Chef at Sodexo, says, “Carbon reduction is high on the agenda for our clients and

customers, which means Carbono Cero fits perfectly into our food offer, our company and client goals.”

Launched at six UK corporate client sites in April 2022, Sodexo plans to expand the partnership to 1,500 sites globally by April 2023. “The vegan dishes we’ve created with Quorn are on trend and are filled with punchy aromatic flavors that taste great,” Chef Smith says. “At some sites, they even outsell other dishes on the menu, which are mainly meat protein. We’re looking forward to creating more exciting dishes with Quorn.”

Quorn’s development chefs Paul Jennings and Mark Wetherill are providing culinary development sessions with Sodexo’s regional food teams to inspire, educate and empower chefs on the benefits of plant-based menus and how versatile an ingredient Quorn can be. The sessions will help teams engage guests and encourage them to discover new ways of eating. “Our chefs have created dishes that are local, flavorful and planet conscious, with no sacrifice on taste,” says Chef Jennings. “Carbono Cero celebrates provenance and seasonality to create dishes that we know diners will love.”

Everyday delicious Feed your best self

Good food all around

Sweet potato fries loaded with catchup

INSPIRING Food to Connect With

Freshly tossed avocado and grapefruit salad. Sprinkled with office gossip.

FLEXIBLE Anytime Every Time All the Time

Eat well together

HEALTHY Feed Your Best Self

RESPONSIBLE Ingredients for Better

All Day Food for Modern Living

Modern Recipe brings together the ingredients that feed our best selves: Food that’s in tune with our bodies and our planet, spaces that bring us together and keep our day flowing.

Since 2018, Modern Recipe has served contemporary menu choices in creative spaces at client locations across the globe. With that amazing success and an inspired vision for what’s ahead, we’re enhancing and expanding Modern Recipe into a lifestyle brand with captivating restaurant and market designs and a reinvigorated focus on health, wellness and sustainability offerings. The evolution brings expanded menus, 24/7 convenience and enticing promotions, with digital ordering, delivery and scan-and-go technology to unleash the power of choice, flexibility and convenience.

Fabulous food is, more than ever, at the core of Modern Recipe. Our talented chefs have curated a selection of delicious food, including new wellness and planet-friendly dishes to support the wide range of food preferences of our guests. Consumers are embracing wellness, making the role of nutrition more relevant than ever, so we’re working closely with Food for Climate League and Eve Turow-Paul to design a plant-focused philosophy and lead with a bold 50/50 approach to menus. Our plant-based dishes will comprise 50 percent of our menus by year’s

end, featuring new partnerships with local artisans and restaurants to minimize our carbon footprint. And we’re addressing how consumer behavior is evolving, accommodating hybrid working models and flexible office hours by offering Modern Recipe in markets, cafés, smart fridges and catering to guests where they are.

We believe every personal interaction matters, so we’ve partnered with acclaimed industry expert Raabia Safi to curate a bespoke learning program to help culinary teams delight guests with our signature Modern Recipe brand of thoughtful hospitality. Always focused on consumer engagement and guest satisfaction, we are thrilled to welcome guests into our restaurants and retail spaces to find the meals and refreshment they seek throughout the day—while immersing them in Modern Recipe’s authentic and entertaining spaces that celebrate contemporary food, everyday wellbeing and sustainable living. Modern Recipe is making the healthy choice the easy choice, and our inventive, creative menus allow our guests to savor and enjoy all day food for modern living.

Sodexo’s Global Sustainable Chef Challenge Winner Announced

The inaugural Global Sustainable Chef Challenge announced a winner in December 2022, with seven Regional Finalists competing in a live cook-off. Their creative dishes featured 100-percent plant-based ingredients and were judged on flavor authenticity, use of sustainable ingredients with a low-carbon impact and the creative upcycling of ingredients to minimize food waste.

The seven Finalists were selected via peer review and were then invited to lead contest sponsor Rational AG’s headquarters in Landsberg, Germany to compete for top honors. Simon Tress, Germany’s best-known organic chef and restaurateur, was part of the judging panel, along with Global Head of Food Services John Wright, Global Executive Chef Lloyd Mann and Sodexo Zone President Europe Sunil Nayak.

The Global Sustainable Chef Challenge supports progress towards our Better Tomorrow 2025 commitments by promoting sustainable eating, fostering a culture of environmental responsibility and preventing food waste as an aspect of menu development.

Chef Dominique Doerr France

Seasonal Roasted Vegetables and Lentils with Seaweed Vinaigrette

2022 Sodexo Global Sustainable Chef Regional Finalist and Winner

Regional Finalists

Claudia Saldana-Rose

North America

Latin America

Chef Daniel Szarolkiewicz

Continental Europe

Chef Levi Viana da Silva

Brazil

Chef Ashwin

Iyangar

Asia Pacific

Adam Smith UK & I

Chef Rodrigo Cartes Valdes

Chef

Peruvian Vegan Ceviche with Sweet Potatoes, Avocado, Plantains and Ají Amarillo

Crispy Potato Cake with Cochayuyo Algae, Mushrooms, Corn Omelette, Pumpkin, Cherry Tomato, Kale Pesto and Raspberry Vinaigrette

Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Hazelnut Crunch, Sauce of Nettles, Dandelion Leaves, Jerusalem Artichoke and Pickled Beets

Moqueca Grains with Legumes, Herb Stalks and Crispy Silverbeet

Spinach and Chickpeas Mappas Curry with Beetroot Upma, Mung Beans, Pepper and Radish Salad

Hawaij-Spiced Cauliflower, Red Lentil Dahl, Pickled Carrot Salad, Crispy Onion and Smoked Paprika Fritter with a Coconut Foam

Lisa Feldman Director, Recipe Management North America

Healthy People, Healthy Planet

Sodexo’s Nutrition, Health and Wellness Strategy

At Sodexo, we believe in nourishing the body. In being stewards of our shared natural resources and the future of our planet. In the adventure of healthy food and the warm comforts of home. And in exploring the new. Our Nutrition, Health and Wellness strategy shows how these four pillars can be combined to create programs, services and dishes that excite guests and protect the planet.

Guests have been enjoying Mindful for more than a decade. It’s not only the cornerstone of Sodexo’s wellness approach, but it is also the most recognized internal brand within Sodexo. As we updated Mindful, two needs were clear: to link personal health and wellness with that of the planet and to reflect evolutions in dietary science in Mindful’s nutritional criteria and guidelines.

We embedded two leading philosophies into our menu strategy. Developed by world-leading researchers in nutrition, health, sustainability and policy, the EAT-Lancet Commission’s Planetary Health Diet is a guide to healthy, sustainable dish composition. The Culinary Institute of America’s Menus of Change distills this dish design into a set of culinary principles around recipes and menus. The combination creates the ideal roadmap to apply Sodexo’s Love of Food strategy and dietary guidelines to create programs and services that support the health of both people and planet.

We are aware that both climate change and personal wellness are confusing topics to consumers, and that internal lexicons and esoteric terminology can be overwhelming and cause anxiety. It was vital to not only link nutrition to climate and update our nutritional criteria, but to so do in a relevant manner that would engage our guests.

Research taught us the best way to nudge people to eat in ways that reduce greenhouse gasses and are better for their health is to not talk about climate and wellness. Instead, we focused on the food. When food is agrobiodiverse, grown responsibly, culturally relevant, expertly and lovingly prepared, attractively displayed and, most importantly, delicious, our guests are eager to join us on a wellness journey. When a choice is easy to understand, requires a minimum of effort and pays off with a great reward, people change their habits to participate.

Our multi-disciplined group of Sodexo experts applied the philosophy to our menus and recipes and ultimately into delicious dishes for our guests. Our Supply Team created a decision framework for healthy, agrobiodiverse ingredients that are accessible, affordable and sustainably sourced. Next, we turned the EAT-Lancet plate design into an easyto-understand graphic showing how to build culturally appropriate dishes that would be served in our restaurants. We then developed targets and criteria for our menu framework, including carbon reduction and plant-based goals, ensuring that impact could be measured. Sodexo’s Love of Food Culinary Principles were then adapted so frontline staff could develop guest-centric dishes that meet the dish design criteria and menu framework goals.

Our final step will be to create compelling narratives for both guests and operators to increase engagement and deployment. We’ll be using consumer data and behavioral studies to help guests select meals that are better for them and for the planet, without feeling like they are giving up anything. Together, our practices and their choices can save the world one bite at a time.

Sodexo International Management Meeting

Paris 2022

In November, 2022, Sophie Bellon, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer, and her Global Leadership Team hosted the Sodexo International Management Meeting in Paris with the top 250 Senior Executives to drive the Sodexo 2025 Strategic Plan.

The meeting immersed company leaders in our current food services and consumer culinary trends. Our talented chefs and culinary teams created a delicious culinary food experience for attendees, from authentic global cuisines to dishes from our most popular operating brands. All food was freshly prepared using off-site production, combining international flavors with seasonal and local ingredients. Our commitment to nutrition, health, and well-being was woven into the menus, featuring dishes that were lower in carbon—with 80% plant-based and 20% plant-forward.

Held at Pavillon Baltard in Nogent-sur-Marne, a Parisian suburb, this 19th-century market was preserved as a testimony to the past and provided the perfect atmosphere for showcasing Sodexo’s Love of Food.

Spotlight on Our Global Menu Strategy

Celebrating our global Love of Food, culinary teams prepared authentic cuisines from six regions and brought these food experiences to life, demonstrating our global menu strategy.

France

India

Latin America

The Culinary Experience

113 different dishes over 3 days

5,650 portions served

98% local ingredients

80% plant-based dishes, 20% plant-forward

70% of the menu “A” rated for carbon footprint

55 people involved in the food experience

30 chefs from 7 countries

Spain

UK&I

USA

Glass bottles

Collected waste

Compostable dispenser

Chef Alban Ronceray and the Sodexo France Prestige team demonstrated a 100-percent plant-based menu of modern French cuisine.

Chef Ashwin Iyangar demonstrated Mumbai’s electric flavors with classic preparations, featuring APAC’s regional winner in the Sustainable Chef’s Challenge.

Colombia’s Chef Joaquin Suarez presented flavors and dishes from culinary experts in Chile, Peru, Costa Rica, Mexico and Colombia.

Chefs Pierre Deprez and Israel Canales presented an authentic Spanish menu of classic dishes that showcased the finest ingredients.

Chef Stuart Bowman shared the best of modern British cuisine, using local and inseason ingredients in his signature classic dishes.

Chef Jon Dubrick presented American flavors that embraced the cultural melting pot with modern interpretation and presentation.

The Love of Food Innovation Challenge

2022’s Competition Highlighted Plant-Based Ingredients

The 2022 Love of Food Innovation Challenge showcased the skills of Sodexo NorAm chefs as they created delicious dishes featuring sustainably sourced ingredients with a low environmental impact and no more than 25 percent animal protein. The Challenge connects and inspires Sodexo chefs who understand the power of food as a source of health and well-being.

The competition highlighted the use of plant-based ingredients in dishes that are appealing, accessible, affordable, culturally acceptable, nutritious and environmentally friendly. At the live finale held at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina, Chef Claudia Saldana-Rose, Executive Chef at William and Mary, took first place with her Peruvian Vegan Ceviche. Finishing in the top three were Davis District and Campus Chef Sarah P. Falls from Liberty University with her Tandoori Cauliflower and Walnut Naanwich and Chef Andrew Loesch, Operations Manager at Vidant Hospital, with his Quinoa Crepes with Mushroom-Walnut Filling.

Since vegan and plant-based dishes are so on-trend right now,” Chef Saldana-Rose said, “I wanted to show that one of my favorite meals could be transformed into a plant-based option.” While traditional ceviche features seafood and a fish broth, Chef Saldana-Rose’s version puts the spotlight on sweet potato and ají amarillo, a Peruvian pepper.

Chef Saldana-Rose won an immersive New York City culinary experience, where she will explore up-and-coming and fine dining restaurants, provided by challenge sponsors San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna. The panel of judges for the 2022 Innovation Challenge included Stuart Winters, CEO of Sodexo Healthcare in the US; Steven Greene, Executive Chef of the Umstead Hotel and Spa; and celebrity chef G. Garvin, who helped select the winning recipe from our 10 finalists.

Claudia Saldana-Rose Peruvian Vegan Ceviche

Sarah P. Falls Tandoori Cauliflower and Walnut Naanwich

Andrew Loesch Quinoa Crepes with Mushroom-Walnut Filling

FINALIST

FINALIST

Celebrating Maison Lenôtre

The Epitome of French Heritage, Excellence and Passion

For generations, the chefs at Maison Lenôtre have offered indulgent cuisine and decadent pastries to promote France’s culinary heritage and the French joie de vivre at this legendary Parisian destination. With boutiques, events and a legendary cooking school, classic and contemporary creations are impeccably presented with a single objective: to share the sheer pleasure of great taste with everyone.

Venues and events bring people together to create exceptional moments and lasting memories. Every event with Sodexo Live! set new experience standards, with the finest menus and the most renowned chefs at legendary cultural destinations.

Best in Class with Sodexo Live! UK

Royal Ascot

The Royal Garden Party

Heritage Portfolio is the catering brand of Sodexo Live! As proud Royal Warrant Holders for catering services from Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, they have planned, operated and run the Royal Garden Party at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Scotland, for almost two decades. Annually, the Royal Family welcomes around 8,000 people from all walks of Scottish life to spend a relaxed afternoon in the beautiful grounds of the Palace.

Menu development for the following year begins in November with tastings alongside our trusted suppliers, followed by tastings at Buckingham Palace in January, then at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in March. Twenty sandwich flavors and forty cakes are whittled down to five and nine selections respectively through a rigorous tasting process. At the event on June 29 this year, 31,901 cakes and 11,900 sandwiches were served by 250 culinary staff members.

Revered across the globe, Royal Ascot is the highlight summer event and plays host to the finest horse racing, spectacular fashion and gastronomy. For five days in June, Royal Ascot welcomed 275,000 racegoers in its first full-scale meet since 2019. To mark the special return of the Royal Meeting, the team at 1711 by Ascot—a joint venture between Ascot Racecourse and Sodexo Live!— introduced fresh concepts and new culinary partners to enhance and evolve the racegoers experience.

This included Neutro, Ascot’s first netzero restaurant, designed to reduce and/ or eliminate carbon emissions by using locally sourced produce and plant-based food. Neutro generates its own electricity through a solar-powered SmartFlower, has a state-of-the-art food-waste digestion system and incorporates recycled, upcycled and reusable materials, crockery and furniture into the venue.

Henley Royal Regatta

Henley Royal Regatta attracts thousands of visitors during event week, with spectators entertained by more than 300 races of international prestige, which includes Olympic rowers as well as crews new to the event.

Sodexo Live! has worked with Henley Royal Regatta since 2013 and, this year, Sodexo Live! delivered all hospitality for the event across the Fawley Meadows Restaurant, Riverside Chalets, private dining on Temple Island and a brandnew hospitality experience at the Fawley Meadows Lounge. The Fawley Meadows Lounge was available for one day only at the Regatta, and guests enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and informal seating. The grazing lunch menu included chalk stream trout with celeriac remoulade and beetroot falafel with avocado aioli. Specialist mixologists and expert sommeliers were on hand to serve Moët & Chandon Champagne and botanical cocktails from the complimentary bar throughout the day.

Hampden Park

Delivering on the big stage is key to the success of any event in the sports and entertainment industry. And at Hampden Park—Scotland’s national stadium, the Sodexo Live! team did just that during summer 2022. The venue played host to eight high-profile music concerts, including Gerry Cinnamon, Coldplay, Liam Gallagher, Calvin Harris and Ed Sheeran, and the Sodexo Live! team served more than 350,000 concertgoers.

For each concert, there was a “Hampden Hospitality” package for everyone, from culinary dining experiences in one of the exclusive Superboxes to the Hampden Suite party package. The talented culinary teams worked with local and specialist suppliers in Scotland to create delicious, eclectic and relaxed food offerings, which included luxury finger food, sweet carts and street food pop-ups. Each buffet featured 8 to 10 options, with a strong focus on Scottish specialties, such as oysters sourced from local seafood company Loch Fyne Oysters. Beverages included everything from coffee to cocktails, including an Ed Sheeran-inspired whisky cocktail.

“We are immensely proud to have Sodexo Live! actively participating in this extraordinary event for Paris and for France. All of our teams are already working hard to create a one-of-a-kind, unforgettable experience for the Olympic and Paralympic athletes.”

Nathalie Bellon-Szabo Managing Director of Sodexo Live!

Sodexo Live! Becomes a Partner of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games

Sodexo Live! teams have been chosen to provide catering services for the Olympic Village. In addition to providing up to 40,000 daily meals for the 14,850 athletes from the 388 Olympic and Paralympic delegations taking part in the competition, Sodexo Live! will also be responsible for providing food service to the general public at 12 competition sites. For this partnership, Sodexo Live! is building on its well-established expertise in premier-level and prestigious sporting events, such as the Super Bowl, Roland-Garros, the Rugby World Cup and the Tour de France.

In a country like France, whose culinary talent is world famous, Sodexo Live! plans

to offer a selection of food tailored to the needs of high-level athletes, without compromising on taste. To achieve this, the menus will be developed in collaboration with specialized nutritionists and members of the Paris 2024 Athletes' Commission.

“With Sodexo Live!, we have opted for expertise in order to offer top-notch food services to the athletes,” says Tony Estanguet, three-time Olympic canoe champion and President of Paris 2024. “For these athletes, what they find on their plate will reflect the experience of the Olympics. Eating well is vital for performance. Of course, it is also synonymous with enjoyment.”

Virtual Global Chef Visits 125 Campuses

On-Site Culinary Teams Re-Create International Flavors

With in-person tours still on hold, 2022’s Global Chefs shared international flavors, heritage recipes and cultural perspective with more than 100 campus culinary teams through live broadcasts, allowing units to ask the chefs specific questions about their recipes and culture. Inspired by the passion of Global Chefs from Belgium, Brazil and South Africa, our on-site teams re-created and served traditional global cuisine to guests in our campus dining restaurants. While sampling and enjoying this international fare, students watched cooking demonstration videos recorded by the Global Chefs and took home printed recipes to try these specialties for themselves.

We’ll continue to offer the virtual model of the NorAm Global Chef Program until we can safely resume our regular, in-person tours and, once again, explore and enjoy the worldwide flavors and dishes created by our international chefs.

Desmond Fannin Global Chef Program North America

A menu is more than just a collection of recipes, and our chefs infuse passion and creativity into their craft. Every day in the kitchen is an adventure and an opportunity to finesse flavors and excite the senses.

Perfecting the Craft 02

Persian Ash Reshteh by Chef Aymeric Halbmeyer

Sodexo Canada’s New Ambassadors for Love of Food and Mindful

Meet Chef Rich Francis and Isabelle Huot

Chef Rich Francis is a well-known Canadian chef and entrepreneur who is redefining Indigenous cuisine. Originally from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, his mother is Haudenosaunee from the Six Nations of Ontario, and his father is Tetlit Gwich’in from Fort McPherson, Northwest Territories. Rich finished top of his class at Stratford Chef’s School in Ontario and is known for being a finalist and the only First Nations competitor on Season 4 of Top Chef Canada.

Rich’s Gwich’in grandmother was a source of inspiration for him, fostering early childhood food memories from fishing camps in Fort McPherson. When he became a chef, Rich resurrected those memories and began exploring the ingredients that make up his cuisine. His modern Indigenous cuisine is a fusion of his Gwich’in and Mohawk roots, forging a path of finding and using ingredients eaten by Indigenous peoples of Canada for thousands of years.

Rich’s approach to native foods and Indigenous ingredients has garnered attention in the culinary world and has revitalized Indigenous food and culture. Through his work as a chef, he has addressed issues that affect First Nations as a whole, such as truth and reconciliation, colonization, diabetes, obesity, food sovereignty and the right to healthy and culturally appropriate food that is grown and harvested in a sustainable way.

Sodexo’s Love of Food celebrates the very best from recognized and up-and-coming celebrity chefs as well as our own top culinary talent. Chef Rich draws upon his extensive culinary experience to develop signature dishes to connect with our guests. Sodexo sites across Canada now offer authentic Indigenous dishes to our guests, including Mohawk Minestrone, Native Roots Power Bowl, Three Sisters Salad and a Pecan Herb-Crusted Cauliflower Meal.

© Red Works

Isabelle Huot is the reference for healthy eating in her home province of Quebec and is quickly gaining popularity across the country. Sodexo Canada has partnered with her to create signature dishes that bring healthier and delicious food back to the forefront on Mindful menus across Canada.

Mindful’s promise to guests is healthy food that is full of flavor. More than just good-for-you food, Mindful takes a holistic approach to health and wellness. It balances three components of wellness: eating, living and community, supporting them with healthful activities for the body, mind and spirit. Mindful provides guests with a simple way to make healthy choices, along with motivation and inspiration to live a healthier lifestyle.

As a regular commentator for the television show ‘‘Salut Bonjour,” she raises awareness about making healthy food choices. As the founder and CEO of Isabelle Huot, Docteure en nutrition, she owns a network of nutrition clinics and also has a variety of ready-toeat meals, snacks and kitchen tools available in retail. A wellpublished author, Isabelle has published 15 books on the topics of nutrition, fitness and well-being. Isabelle holds a doctorate in nutrition from The University of Montreal, Canada.

Isabelle has developed delicious and nutritious dishes for Mindful, including soups, entrées, sides and desserts. Her culinary creations include Cranberry & Date Crumble, Fennel & Cauliflower Soup, Red Bean Vegetarian Burrito and Pumpkin, Oatmeal & Chocolate Cookies.

Our Global Culinary Principles

Guidelines to Demonstrate Our Love of Food

Sodexo’s Love of Food is about passionate chefs creating incredible dishes for our guests. Every one of us is dedicated to making our guests happy, running our kitchens smoothly and helping our teams be the best they can be.

We demonstrate our Love of Food through these Global Culinary Principles:

A menu strategy built around sustainable diets, quality and consistency, developing talent and cultivating innovation.

Responsible sourcing, using only the finest sustainably sourced ingredients, with a focus on seasonality and local producers.

A commitment to quality, delivering culinary excellence and delighting our guests.

Seeking innovation and continually developing our menus to bring innovation and food trends to our guests.

Taking climate-friendly, sustainable actions to protect natural resources and the future of our planet.

Serving plant-based dishes that are great tasting and healthy and also lower carbon emissions.

Wellness leadership in offering amazing, healthy choices to 100 percent of our guests every day.

Zero-waste methods to eliminate the waste of precious food.

Working with chefs from around the world and each Segment’s lead culinary chefs, Sodexo’s Food Services defined the best practices for high-quality, consistent presentation. Together, we’ve developed a Culinary Principles Guide, which is available from each Region’s Food Services Team. The guide ensures guests are always at the heart of our culinary efforts in our restaurants and hospitality operations. It covers “what good looks like” for assortment, merchandising and promotional methods, so that each location worldwide can ensure every meal is irresistible and memorable and served with the highest attention to detail—every time.

Giving careful attention to these principles and applying the base standards gives teams the ability to showcase their culinary skills through beautiful dishes that excite our guests and grow sales.

Two Chefs and Many, Many Trucks

Sodexo Chefs Land at a Dutch Truck Manufacturer

Chef Robert Janse was born and raised in his parents’ hotel in Boxtel, Netherlands. At 4 years old, he was in the kitchen, helping to prepare snacks for hotel guests. His parents encouraged him to explore other professions, but Robert was focused on becoming a chef. He trained in a large hotel, gaining insight into the complexities of a fast-paced kitchen. He’s also served in smaller luxury restaurants and large conference centers, perfecting his craft in top-notch kitchens.

Showing enthusiasm for cooking while in high school, Chef Ton Hoogers has always had a keen interest in any restaurant topic. He’s worked in classic French restaurants, bistros and large hotels, mastering technical preparations and refining dishes. Ton’s broad experience has enabled him to switch gears whenever necessary between the large kitchen at his own site for DAF, the Dutch truck manufacturer, and smaller locations nearby.

At DAF, trucks are at the heart of the operation and factor large in Sodexo’s catering service. Chef Janse says, “Everything is truck related. If there’s a malfunction in a factory, we make sure food is available for the workers.” Chef Hoogers adds that they help the company celebrate awards and new model releases, saying, “When DAF won the Truck of the Year 2023 award, we provided 10,000 fruit pastries for the celebration.”

With Sodexo’s Better Tomorrow 2025 on the horizon, both chefs are proud to be part of a company that envisions a future focused on nature and people. Chef Janse says, “We can make a major impact by purchasing responsibly and reducing food waste through WasteWatch.” Chef Hoogers is committed to offering people job opportunities and says, “With our dishes, we literally ensure the engine at DAF continues to run.”

Chef Robert Janse

Chef Ton Hoogers

“Cuisinons Ensemble” Launches in France

A New Program Trains Employees for a Culinary Career

Launched in 2022, a new internal training program aims to help Sodexo employees gain kitchen skills and advance their careers in the catering industry. Let’s Cook Together, known as Cuisinons Ensemble in France, offers an opportunity for motivated employees to acquire the skills necessary for kitchen production.

The first four-month session paired 14 chef tutors with interns (100 percent female!) and focused on teaching the skills needed to prepare food, from

knife skills to basic cooking techniques. It ended with a practice meal in the kitchens of the prestigious Lenôtre schools. Program participants were recommended by their managers or volunteered to take part in the training to progress towards a position in the kitchen, gaining the confidence necessary for a future culinary job. For trainees like Kadeba Ba, currently a service employee in the medico-social sector, it’s an opportunity to realize her dream “to become a cook.”

Scaled Up for Success in Chile

Sodexo Teams Open Multiple Sites in Record Time

The biggest rewards often come with the biggest challenges. And it’s certainly true for the Sodexo team in Chile, after being awarded a contract to provide food for more than 8,000 Walmart employees in 180 Walmart Supermarkets, two plants and headquarters sited across three regions of Chile. And all with an implementation period of four months and averaging eight to 13 sites opened per month!

A complex operation like this required collaboration across Sodexo to achieve the goal of having all locations running by the end of July 2022. Corporate Services took on the challenge of hiring new personnel at each site, recruiting more than 900 employees. The project also created new opportunities to streamline many long-established processes to meet the clients’ deadlines and needs, along with managing delivery logistics and extensive accident risk scenarios.

To maximize efficiencies, the sites were divided into two food production models:

a traditional on-site operation and an assembly model using the offsite Colina Plant. Chefs from Colombia and Peru, who deployed for weeks at a time, supported the mobilization process to help achieve the expected quality and continuity of food service, with four serving times each day. The culinary teams developed new gastronomic standards, standardized production and simplified kitchen tasks for the hundreds of new personnel. The effort, commitment, contribution and teamwork across the company allowed Team Chile to succeed in challenging circumstances and find ways to improve operations every day.

Operational Manager Miriam Carrancio, Executive Chef Cristopher Paredes, Service Staff Gusmairy Zambrano and Marcia Railen Reyes, Operational Leader Rodrigo Ricardi, Operational Leader Conzuelo Garcia and Commercial Manager Carolina Caroca

Sodexo’s State-ofthe-Art Cafe Opens in the Philippines

Innovation, Sustainability and Celebrity Built Right In

Sodexo Philippines opened its newest site in Taguig City, Manila. The warm ambience of the 9th Avenue Café, combined with a diverse menu, health and wellness options and integrated technology, provides a best-in-class experience for guests. Sodexo is partnering with celebrity chef Bruce Lim, who has popularized Filipino cuisine on a number of TV shows, to provide an exciting menu for health- and environment-conscious foodies at the site. The enhanced workplace food experience helps to make “the healthy choice the easy choice” for café guests.

Celebrity Chef Bruce Lim

Powering Performance

Food to Inspire, Engage and Nourish UK Students

It’s widely recognized that fueling children with nutritionally balanced school meals can help support concentration during the school day and performance in sports and activities. Providing healthy meals for pupils and students is a cornerstone of Sodexo’s social value strategy, where we aim to inspire, engage and nourish young people by encouraging them to adopt healthy behaviors while in school.

Ensuring access to the best food possible is important. However, simply making high-quality food available to young people is only part of the role we have to play. We must use the dining room and school classroom as environments to educate about nutrition and healthy eating to encourage better habits, lifelong skills and provide them with the food they want to eat.

In recognition of the importance of educating young people, Sodexo has established the Healthy Futures Partnership with the British Nutrition Foundation, a leading UK nutrition charity with 30 years’ expertise and leadership in nutrition education. This partnership focuses on food education in schools, provides training to all front-line chefs and adds vibrancy to food education with classroom engagement activities.

Dishes Designed to Maximize Potential

Powering Performance adopts four pillars. Each pillar is assigned to “hero” ingredients that provide essential nutrients for which there is evidence of benefits for young people’s health and wellbeing.

Strengthen Food to Fortify

Features foods with essential nutrients to help support healthy development from head to toe.

Focus Food for the Mind

Features foods with essential nutrients to help support mental ability and wellbeing.

Replenish Food to Restore

Features foods with essential nutrients to help support functions like immunity and recovery from physical activity.

Sustain Food to Energize

Features foods with essential nutrients to help reduce tiredness and fatigue and normal release of energy.

Nutrition Education Ground in Science

One of Healthy Futures Partnership’s first initiatives is updating the Powering Performance program, originally created by Independents by Sodexo and now further developed by the British Nutrition Foundation. This program provides an exciting way to bring nutrition to life across a menu of healthy and more-sustainable recipes based on the principles of the UK Government's Eatwell Guide.

The Powering Performance program features attractive, freshly prepared, tasty menu options that aim to appeal to young people’s tastes and preferences. Students want school meals to echo the dishes and serving styles of some of their favorite restaurant brands, and they have an interest in vibrant foods and exploring new ingredients. Powering Performance encourages students to try new foods, increases their familiarity with healthier ingredients and engages them in learning activities that will help develop their knowledge about food and its impact on their body.

Dishes cover breakfast, lunch and dinner service and include popular recipes like Goan Fish Curry, Chili Quorn and Kidney Bean Burrito, Teriyaki Beef and Mushroom Stir Fry, and Chia and Blueberry Oat Yogurt.

Powering Performance boasts more than 60 healthy, nutritious recipes—including environmentally friendly dishes using plant-based proteins and reflecting lifestyle choices, such as vegetarian and vegan. It enhances the daily menu cycle across schools, incorporating dishes based on a robust nutrition framework that students and parents can trust.

Empowering Chefs in the Food Learning Journey

Powering Performance will help to equip Sodexo chefs with the skills to support teachers in the children’s food learning journey. It uses a unique nutrient-based framework for recipe development that matches the essential nutrients in ingredients to authorized health claims for young people.

To ensure Sodexo school chefs understand and feel inspired to use these ingredients, they take part in the Healthy Futures Training program, developed and certified by the British Nutrition Foundation. The training modules explore the importance of the school chef in supporting children’s health, cover core nutrition principles and look at ideas of how to engage with young people around the food choices they make in the school dining hall and beyond.

Powering Performance provides nutritious and innovative dishes for a young audience with ever-growing consciousness around what they eat. It taps into the youth market at a time when sustainability and healthy living are more prominent than ever.

“The school dining hall is an excellent place to support schools, echoing key messages about nutrition and healthy eating being taught in classrooms when enjoying delicious food at mealtimes.”

Rosemary Molinari Head of Health & Wellbeing UK Schools and Universities

Haya Molcho’s Passion for Cooking

TV Chef Becomes Brand Ambassador in Germany

“For me, cooking is a passion paired with openness and a love of food.”

When celebrity chef Haya Molcho gets going in the kitchen with her radiant laugh, her dishes have the taste of her original homeland Israel.

Haya Molcho from Austria Levant Kitchen is famous for her creativity in interpreting Middle Eastern—especially Israeli—cuisine. Lively (Haya means life), she has founded several NENI family restaurants all over Europe. A cookbook author and a popular TV guest, this superwoman of Levant cuisine is now a brand ambassador for Sodexo Germany.

Menu dishes were created in collaboration with female chefs from Sodexo’s “Kochschmiede” cookery school. For the days with Molcho, Sodexo selected employees who are still underrepresented in managerial positions in the kitchen due to their origin or their gender. The final dishes were available to guests in selected company restaurants.

“As a brand ambassador, I am delighted to support Sodexo’s commitment to diversity and inclusion,” says Haya. “ The exchange with the chefs at the Kochschmiede is particularly important to me because good food builds bridges and brings people of all ages, cultures and backgrounds together. For me, cooking is a passion paired with openness and a love of food. I would like to pass this on to the Sodexo chefs and ensure culinary enthusiasm in the company restaurants.”

Team Zurich from Cologne

Haya Molcho

From the High Seas and Beyond

Offshore Chefs Gather for Culinary Workshop

Sodexo's first Offshore Chef Workshop was held in July 2022 in Rio de Janeiro, with two days of training for culinarians working in the offshore branches of the Energy and Resources Segment. The sessions were developed by Food Services Gastronomic Consultant and Chef Plínio Viana and presented by Gastronomic Consultant Levi Viana and Chef Trainers Bruno William and Fabiano Oliveira from the Business Segment.

The sessions were designed to share the latest trends in culinary innovations, sustainability and techniques, allowing the chefs to further develop their skills. The exchange of experiences was extremely rewarding, since adjusting recipes and trends within the planning and supply parameters on ships is challenging.

The participants were enthusiastic about the workshop and reinforced that our teams are increasingly committed to the Spirit of Service. This event was a celebration of our Love of Food.

Sweet-and-Sour Salmon with Exotic Fruit and Steamed Eggplant in Ponzu and Sesame-Oil Sauce by Chef Aymeric Halbmeyer

Innovation and Imagination

From indoor vertical farming to visionary school nutrition programs, Sodexo celebrates the ingenious ideas and thought leaders transforming our day-to-day business.

Fresh Garden Toast with Citrus Hummus by Chef Aymeric Halbmeyer

Sodexo Live! is setting new experience standards with the latest technology at renowned venues across the world. With their unparalleled hospitality leadership, Sodexo Live! is creating unforgettable moments for visitors and guests that will last a lifetime.

Seattle Mariners

Sodexo Live!’s partner venue T-Mobile Park, home of the Seattle Mariners, opened a new Walk-Off Market in May—the first store in Major League Baseball to use both Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology and Amazon One ID. Built for speed, the autonomous store has proved successful as fans use next-gen technology to enter the store, choose from team merchandise, grab-and-go food and canned beverages, and quickly return to their seats.

Nashville Sounds

In Music City, First Horizon Park is home to the Nashville Sounds, a Triple-A Minor League Baseball team. As the hospitality partner to the venue, Sodexo Live! and the Sounds opened the park’s first autonomous store located just outside third base offering beverages, specialty packaged goods and grab-and-go food items to serve venue guests more efficiently and provide an exciting new experience.

Comic-Con International: San Diego

Sodexo Live! debuted Tortoise, a mobile vending robot, in a convention center setting for the first time. At Comic-Con International: San Diego, the largest comics and pop culture event in the US, Tortoise roamed the event concourse selling drinks and chef-made California burritos to hungry guests. Convention goers approached Tortoise, tapped to pay, retrieved their item and were on their way fast, not missing a minute of the Comic-Con action.

Fan Favs

Sodexo Live!’s San Diego Convention Center Executive Chef Sufi Karaien and Pastry Chef Matthew Haven teamed up to develop whimsical, limited-edition chocolate bars for Comic Con this year, with names like Misunderstood Villain, Recess, Sunrise S’mores and Pixie’s Garden paying homage to the larger-thanlife characters that make up the show.

NCAA Final Four

With longtime venue partner Caesars Superdome, Sodexo Live! hosted 2022’s jam-packed Final Four semifinal and championship games to crown a winner in men’s college basketball. Executive Chef Lenny Martinsen and the team served creative dishes with a fiercely New Orleans flare, tapping into an array of local partners. The addition of Picnic—an automated pizza assembly robot—was a hit with guests and industry leaders.

Credit: San Diego Convention Center

Vertical Farming Indoors in Sweden

Sodexo Chefs Harvest Greens for Employee Lunches

Employees at AstraZeneca in Sweden are now enjoying climate-friendly food for lunch, harvested directly from new vertical farming modules located on the client’s premises. September marked the first harvest, with chefs expecting to harvest up to 600 plants each month, per location, to use in cooking or to sell to guests.

Sodexo’s Johnny Sandberg, Food Development and Sustainability Lead, and AstraZeneca’s Lotta Jonsson, Associate Director Campus FM Soft Service, saw the potential of Swedish tech company Grönska’s farming modules called The GrowOff. Sandberg explains, “Reducing food waste, promoting green meals and making our supply chain as carbon smart as possible is part of our strategic plan, and the farming modules fit in quite well.” Jonsson, who’s responsible for Sodexo’s deliveries on Södertälje sites, adds, “AstraZeneca actively works toward reducing climate impact at all levels, by reducing transports, water usage, waste and greenhouse gas emissions. The GrowOff matches these goals well.”

“The GrowOff makes you want to taste the produce, and we already see that the employees enjoy the modules being here. You can follow your basil from seed to caprese, which is fun!”

Sodexo’s Johnny Sandberg

The GrowOff reduces carbon emissions by making the transport of crops lighter and more space-efficient. Instead of transporting whole plants, only the super-light pots of seeds are transported, without need for cooling or heating along the way. From a food waste perspective, it’s easier to use only what’s needed for a dish when harvesting yourself. And by following the growing process from seed to harvest, everyone watching begins to understand how much time and effort is put into growing food.

Grönska’s CEO Robin Lee sees how the vertical farming modules help communicate the sustainability message in a different way. She says, “We see that many companies need tools to work with sustainability in a concrete and engaging way. That’s where we come in. Growing food is something many people connect to and it makes sustainability goals more tangible.”

Giving Kids a Voice in School Nutrition

Innovative Approach Brings Together an Entire School Community

Sodexo Nutritionist and Unit Manager Aline Reis, along with Camila Berniz, Angelita Marques, Raulinda Lima and Monique Martins, led a team at an international school in Rio de Janeiro that developed a nutrition program to reinforce good eating habits in children—and she enlisted the help of the client, families and students to ensure it would be a success.

First, the school began developing new recipes with an emphasis on vegetables, greens and fruits and a reduction of salt, sugar, oil and preservatives—while making sure the dishes were still appealing to children and adolescents. Second, informational folders and fun recreational activities were created for families to explain the new program’s goals and the health benefits to children.

During the next step, students had an opportunity to sample recipes in the kitchen

and score them, which allowed them to express their preferences and have a voice in recipe selection. With the development of healthy, homemade recipes for biscuits, pizzas and main dishes, the students realized that there wasn’t much difference in taste and the benefits were quickly noticed, including a 75 percent reduction in oil usage in recipes. “We held fun events with various themes because changing a habit takes time and persistence,” says Reis. “Many students ask us for recipes to take and make with their families.”

With positive feedback from students and parents, the Sodexo team is committed to offering an innovative, balanced and healthy diet that benefits the entire school community.

“Partnering with parents on this new journey was key to achieving the goals, as they were our allies in motivating children to eat healthier.”

Aline Reis

The Right Food in the Right Environment

Sodexo Government Introduces JRD by Kitchen Works co. in the UK

With today’s soldiers dining in the mess only once a week for dinner, and less than three times a week for lunch, military leaders were concerned about the negative impact on camaraderie and the overall lived experience of personnel.

Industry partners were challenged to devise a new dining experience free of the usual restrictions placed on caterers by archaic nutritional governance. Honorary Catering Advisor to Defence David Morgan-Hewitt observed, “Good food (well-cooked from good ingredients) served in an inviting and suitable environment is what we must now aim for.”

The right food in the right environment has a significant impact on morale, fitness, readiness and retention. Sodexo was one of three partners chosen to trial two sites as part of the “Army EATS” program for change. As well as being an opportunity to showcase our culinary and creative skills, the timing coincided with the upcoming renewal of the Defence Soft Facilities Management contract. How we positioned our offer and influenced decisionmakers was crucial, as the contract is one of the Segment’s most valuable, with potential for growth.

Sodexo Government worked closely with Food Services to develop a unique dining concept for the forces, which was based on Kitchen Works co. but adapted for the military environment.

Emily Bird, Service Development Manager

within Food Services, explains: “It was a really exciting opportunity for all of us to challenge the current guidelines, to essentially bring them up to date and bring people something really exciting to them as well.”

JRD by Kitchen Works co. features convenient grab-and-go options, as well as a full range of hot meals that personnel can enjoy in the mess with colleagues. Every day, choices range from nostalgic taste-of-home comfort dishes to global bowls with new flavors from around the world. Addressing Army EATS concerns, a wider range of healthy options was offered, along with more support for plant-based meals, cultural diets and food intolerances.

“Food and dining is about more than just fuel,” says Liam MacDonough, Executive Development Chef for Sodexo Government. “This new venture and venue give service personnel an opportunity to break from the structure of their daily routine, relax and enjoy good, nutritious food in a bright, airy and trendy environment.”

Soldiers demanded easy access to nutritionally balanced meals, in a modern and stylish social space. Military leaders wanted crowd-pleasing menus that would keep their personnel satisfied, fueled, and on base. JRD by Kitchen Works co. truly satisfies the appetites of today’s soldiers and paves the way for a healthier and more capable force.

Watch the story of Army EATS and JRD by Kitchen Works co.

Understanding the Carbon Footprint of School Meals

A New Labeling Application Calculates CO2e Emissions

A trial initiative between Sodexo and Oasis Community Learning encouraged students at two secondary schools to think about the power they have to make climate-conscious meal choices. At two Oasis Academy secondary schools in the UK—Arena in Croydon and Media City in Salford, Sodexo launched a CO2e labeling app that calculates the quantitative carbon footprint of the main courses on school menus and generates a traffic light system with low-medium-high CO2 emissions labels so young diners can see the impact of each dish.

“Using the CO2e labeling helps pupils make more sustainable choices and learn about the carbon footprint of food,” says Karen Scammel, National Account Director for Sodexo Government Schools.

Sodexo’s Marketing Manager for Schools and Universities, Irmina Pala, worked with a creative team to design eye-catching promotional artwork for dining rooms, banners, bunting, flyers and branded t-shirts to launch the initiative at the two trial sites. The campaign captured the imagination of the students, with the initial results of the trial showing that students increasingly chose the CO2e-friendly options.

By sharing monthly reports, teachers and students can see the trends and positive impact this initiative is having. With such a successful trial, the campaign has now rolled out to ten additional secondary schools across the Oasis Academy portfolio and the results are also helping to inform ongoing menu development.

“Opting to choose a more CO2efriendly lunch may seem like a small gesture for an individual but when people change their behaviors in large numbers it really adds up.”

Karen Scammel National Account Director Sodexo Government Schools

Sodexo Inspires High School Culinarians

NAACP/ACT-SO Partnership Showcases Achievement

ACT-SO (Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics) is a major youth initiative of the NAACP. ACT-SO was designed to identify, encourage, reward and showcase the academic and artistic achievements of high school students of African descent. The 2022 National Competition was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with the national Culinary and Hospitality winners awarded scholarships to the Culinary Institute of America (CIA).

A yearlong youth achievement program, ACT-SO provides students with an opportunity to work with professionals in their area of interest. Each program year, thousands of students test their skills against their peers in ACT-SO local competitions, hosted nationwide by NAACP units. The gold medal winner from each local competition represents their community and sponsoring NAACP unit at the National ACT-SO competition, which is held every summer and attracts more than 1,200 people.

Sodexo partnered with ACT-SO in 2009 to develop the new Culinary Arts Competition Category. In 2015, Sodexo supported ACT-SO in introducing the Hospitality Competition, a new category where a team of students develops a business plan for an innovative hospitality concept. Sodexo Chefs provide the students with mentoring and training and prepare them for the competitions. Sodexo also supports the judging process.

“As a long-standing partner of the NAACP, Sodexo prides itself on being invited as the premier corporate sponsor of the ACT-SO Culinary and Hospitality competitions,” says Gloria Puentes, Sodexo’s Director of Community Relations and External Diversity Relations. “Sodexo’s talented Executive Chefs embrace the opportunity to mentor and influence the artistic capabilities of these young and talented culinary students.”

As we harbor and sustain this program, Sodexo aims to develop an ongoing relationship with the students and inform them of career opportunities they can enjoy within our company, nationally and internationally.

“For more than ten years, Sodexo and NAACP ACT-SO have helped create successful career pathways across the culinary and hospitality landscape. Innovation remains at the center of our work as we equip each student with the necessary tools to thrive,” says Larry Brown, National Director of ACT-SO/NAACP. “We are excited about expanding access to culinary education and training for the future.”

Judges Theo Moise of Manje with Moise, Sodexo’s Desmond Fannin, Angela Irwin from Atlantic City’s Tropicana Resort, Daryl Shular, CMC of The Shular Institute and Will Packwood from the Culinary Institute of America

Silver Medalist Esvin Barrios, Gold Medalist JaKeyla Kane and Bronze Medalist Briana Hobson

eat>

The Most Wanted Food Service in Finland

Proven to support hybrid work and the needs of our guests, eat> welcomes them back to the office and campus. Eat> has the key elements for the well-being of our planet and people: healthy and tasteful food choices prepared with culinary expertise and with attention to the carbon footprint we leave behind.

The mission for eat>, “We believe that great, honest food, served in a beautifully designed space, should be accessible and affordable to everybody every day,” has been the starting point from the very beginning.

Today’s guests expect a communal place to meet with colleagues and to combine breaks with great food experiences. Eat> responds to these aspirations and quality standards, while keeping the pricing affordable every day. The elegant design offers a warm and welcoming environment where people can be together and have a bite.

Sodexo’s sustainability target of 35 percent lower CO2 emissions by 2025 is built into the menu design. At least one vegetarian and/or vegan option is available every day, at all main destinations. Local, seasonal and Future 50 recipes are promoted, and there is a target to reduce food waste by 50 percent.

Eighty-eight sites were deployed in Finland during fiscal year 2022: 18 in Universities and 70 in Corporate sites, with excellent feedback from clients and guests. Modern designs, clear and honest communication, a new guest journey and our great service spirit have all improved the experience for guests and employees.

Yonoton: A New Way to Pay

Finland has implemented the Yonoton omni-channel pointof-sale system, which includes a web shop, mobile app, traditional service POS, self-service POS and portable wireless POS. All sales are reported in one streamlined portal.

Yonoton’s futuristic Soft Pay app turns mobile phones or tablets into payment terminals. Self-service POS can be changed to a service POS in seconds. These modern methods of paying and self-service save time for guests and Sodexo employees.

Using Trendy TikTok to Promote Health and Wellness

Healthy Mind, Healthy Life Series Launches in the UK

The Sodexo team at a global pharmaceuticals client in the UK created 12 TikTok recipes that guests can make at home to improve nutrition with brain-boosting foods. The ingredients in these recipes, such as avocado and kale, were chosen for their positive impact on mental health, helping to improve mood, provide a memory boost and fight insomnia. From an Apple, Blueberry, Chai Seed & Banana Smoothie to a Roasted Butternut Squash, Mixed Greens & Kale Super Salad, these easy-to-follow, delicious TikTok recipes are designed with your mood in mind!

Bringing Teams Together

Brazil’s Chefs Share Knowledge through Online Training

Present in 18 states, E&R used the “Roda Culinária” as a team development tool, collaborating with Chef Plínio Viana to create online meetings bringing together chefs, cooks and unit managers. Over the course of 18 months, more than 800 participants received 36 hours of training, 25 technical sessions and information on nine trends. The team tested more than 90 new sustainable, high-yield recipes that incorporated Future 50 ingredients and innovations in egg, chicken, pork and salad preparations.

The team revisited seasoning guidelines to enhance flavor and learned new techniques to make meals more attractive and colorful. At the Round Table, chefs shared experiences, tested old recipes and new dishes, offered innovative ideas, explored color and flavor and, most of all, showed their Love of Food.

From plant-based menus to zero-waste goal setting, Sodexo’s careful regard for resources and sustainability is inspiring many “think globally, act locally” initiatives across the globe.

All One Planet 04

Shrimp Dumplings with Wakame Salad by Chef Aymeric Halbmeyer

Climate-Smart Tips

Reducing CO2e in Menus in Sweden

Two years ago, Chef Oscar Jonasson and his kitchen team at Restaurant Björken in Uppsala, Sweden, began reducing their carbon dioxide equivalent impact through recipe development, planning and purchasing. CO2e compares emissions from greenhouse gases based on their global warming potential. By learning the impact of various raw materials, the restaurant’s meals dropped from 1.7 kg CO2e to 1.0 kg, with 30 percent of guests choosing the dish with the lowest climate impact of 0.5 kg CO2e.

More changes have been made since then, with a climate week held in collaboration with client Cytiva Life Sciences. Guests were educated in making climate-smart choices with the average meal served at 0.7 kg CO2 and 35 percent of guests choosing dishes with the lowest climate impact.

Chef Jonasson sees an opportunity for Sodexo to become a world leader in sustainable meals and offers these tips.

Chef Oscar Jonasson

Learn what is good and bad for the climate.

Use a climate calculation tool to calculate the impact of all dishes on the menu.

Set tough climatesmart goals and compare yourself with others.

Remove or reduce raw materials with large climate footprints, such as beef and shrimp.

Be conscious of serving meat. Replace beef completely or serve it once a month at most.

Avoid rice, as its climate impact is 30 times higher than potatoes, pasta and bread.

Use multiple protein sources to replace some meat with lentils, beans and peas.

Serve meals that are completely plant-based (vegan) as opposed to vegetarian, which has a greater climate impact.

Portion proteins and sauces so guests don’t over-serve themselves.

Use mashes such as chickpea mayonnaise, hummus or peabased guacamole instead of butter.

Engage clients and guests by explaining climate-smart meals and why they’re important.

Create an umami taste by changing some of the salt to soy.

Be sure to talk about food in a way that attracts and engages guests.

Create a vegetable gateway for skeptical guests by preparing vegan versions of popular foods, such as burgers, tacos and fried dishes.

Educate guests on the climate footprint of each dish, allowing them to make conscious choices.

Keeping “Waste in Mind”

New Initiative Aims to Avoid Food Waste In and Around Kitchens

Waste In Mind is a new global initiative to increase conversations around food waste and outline the everyday actions that make a collective difference in purchasing, preparing, cooking, baking and eating food at Sodexo locations across the globe.

Our Commitments

When it comes to reducing our impact on the planet, we all play an important role. Waste In Mind inspires culinary teams to put surplus food to good use and avoid food waste. It’s all about doing more with our food, creatively changing kitchen habits, taking ownership of how we affect waste reduction and encouraging culinarians to see the potential in every part of a raw ingredient, no matter its shape or size.

Sodexo acknowledges the responsibility we have to make a difference, and we’ve made company-wide commitments to Better Tomorrow 2025.

50% Reduction of Food Waste by 2025

34% Reduction of Carbon Emissions by 2025

Net Zero by 2040

wrap.org.uk

Between 8% to 10% of global carbon emissions are linked to food waste.

No-Waste Recipe

Photo by Aymeric Halbmeyer

How We’re Getting Teams Involved

We can avoid food waste by changing mindsets around it—and turning the zero-waste system into a new global standard.

Start with Yourself

If you change your behavior and create a system where each team respects every ingredient, you can consistently inspire one another with skills and techniques to unearth the best practices.

Adopt a Zero-Waste Mindset

Every part of an ingredient has a place in a recipe, no matter its shape or size. Before you or a team member discard something, think about what you could do with it. Embrace a mindset that encourages re-utilization and see where it takes you.

Respect the Ingredient

As chefs, we should fully use every part of every ingredient in our recipe development. With an inquisitive mind, culinary creativity and a “no-peel” policy, you and your team can find smart solutions for reducing food waste in and around the kitchen.

Analysis and Reviewing

To unearth the best practices in avoiding food waste, consistent analysis and review of kitchen practices is needed. If you or your team members see something that could be reduced, reused, recycled or recovered rather than tossing or wasting it, think of how you can save it and incorporate that idea into your everyday culinary practice.

Photo by Aymeric Halbmeyer

Sodexo Philippines Launches Plant-Based Menus

Healthy, Sustainable Choices for Every Guest

As part of our commitment toward Better Tomorrow 2025, Sodexo Philippines launched plant-based recipes in our menus. Sodexo’s plant-based food solution offers healthy, sustainable foods to a wide range of guests, from vegans and vegetarians to flexitarians and guests with mainstream appetites. These recipes are customized to local and international food choices and increase the proportion of low-carbon options on menus, with a goal to offer more than 30 percent plant-based meals by 2025.

Following a recipe technology transfer by partner vendors Nestle and Unilever, Sodexo chefs and our partners’ culinary teams developed delectable plant-based recipes. Through cooking demos and collaborative ideation, they crafted incredible recipes.

Bruce Lim

Sodexo Philippines Ambassador Chef

Sodexo Philippines sought out Filipino-Chinese Chef Bruce Lim, whose work and passions align with our values. Known for his restaurant concepts and television projects, he’s been the host of several television shows on the Asian Food Channel, including Tablescapes and The Boss, and he was also the executive chef for the 2019 30th SEA Games.

San Francisco-born and raised, he sharpened his knives at the esteemed Le Cordon Bleu in London, earning a Superior Level in Cuisine and Pastry. Chef Lim has worked at renowned institutions, including the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Hyatt Regency Hotel in Monterey, California, and Century Park Sheraton Hotel in Manila. His specialties include traditional French and Italian cuisines and Euro-Asian fusion.

In September, Chef Lim conducted a cooking demonstration at AMEX, focusing on the importance of sustainable food practices that help prevent climate change. He highlighted that the way food is processed plays a major part in the production of the greenhouse gasses responsible for global warming. He taught attendees about the recipes and unique ingredients that make plant-based food delicious.

Guests Choose a Sustainable Future

New Plant-Based Choices on the Menu

In partnership with a large client at sites in Cebu, Bonifacio Global City and Quezon City, Sodexo Philippines launched new plant-based dishes as part of a program to advocate for a sustainable future. Plant-based meals now account for about 20 percent of the menu, with a new collection of plant-based recipes created for implementation across all sites. In addition, Sodexo has teamed up with Unilever Philippines’ The Vegetarian Butcher brand to develop unique, delightful dishes using their plant-based meat products.

A Sustainable Future in Brazil

Brazil’s Organic Garden

Greens Grown On-Site Bring Flavor and Sustainability

In Itajai Santa Catarina City, Brazil, Sodexo teamed with client GDC Embalagens to create an organic garden. The goal was to offer guests a healthier diet based on fresh greens, create operational savings and bring sustainability to all services, including the Sabor Brasil restaurant.

By using cultivated veggies and herbs as natural seasonings, the restaurant avoids the use of artificial seasonings and large amounts of sodium, bringing a healthier diet and homemade flavor to guests. Sodexo’s Valeria Rosa da Silva loves to use the spices from the garden, especially coriander. “With the organic garden, it became easier to season and add more flavor to the food. Customers always said that my food reminds them of grandma’s food!”

Technology is used in the organic garden to support sustainability and to educate guests. Each veggie is tagged with a QR code that highlights each ingredient’s benefits and provides cooking instructions.

Natura Operation Brazil Introduces Vegan and Vegetarian Dishes

In Brazil, Natura Operation offers vegetarian dishes daily. On Healthy Mondays, no red meat is served in any restaurant, snack bar or coffee shop. With traditional offers, one main dish is replaced by a vegetarian dish—and vegan dishes are being added to menus. Today, 30 percent of guests choose a vegetarian or vegan option.

In partnership with Sociedade Vegetariana Brasileira, culinary teams receive training for vegan recipes and guests are introduced to these dishes through awareness marketing efforts.

Reducing Single-Use Plastic

Sodexo Brazil Supports Client Initiatives

Sodexo Brazil joined with client Santander Bank to reduce plastic use. Eliminating single-use plastics is one of Santander Bank’s organizational commitments, which have also resulted in the reduction and savings of water, electricity and paper. The client promoted this initiative to employees, working with Sodexo on a “Be Healthy” week at three São Paulo City locations in April.

Sustainable Cooking Workshop

Preparing Healthy Dishes with a Small Footprint

In Brazil, Chef Fabiano Oliveira created the Sustainable Cooking Workshop to teach CBMM employees about sustainable recipes and cooking techniques that can be used in their day-to-day activities. Employees learned how to prepare dishes that are not only healthy and tasty, but also reduce the impact on the environment by reducing organic waste in their homes.

At Elektro, Brazil's Francielle Alveti, Rosicleide de Melo, Edson Carlos Araujo and Maria Santos deliver vegetarian delights.

Plant-Powered

Exciting Guests and Protecting the Environment

Sodexo is not only committed to serving our guests dishes they love, but also to reducing our carbon footprint to limit the worst impacts of climate change. These two goals go hand-in-hand and were brought to life through North America's Plant-Powered Mondays program, where once a week, cafés across NorAm offer guests additional plant-based meals and dishes with reduced animal protein.

Today, more consumers than ever consider the climate impact of their meals. According to 2022’s “Young & Hungry” study by the Cassandra Report, 21 percent of both Millennials and Gen Z prioritize the environment when making their choice, an increase of 20 percent over the past surveys. State of the Plate’s report says 70 percent of consumers are trying to reduce the amount of meat they eat.

“There’s more than one factor driving our guests’ desire for more plant-based foods,” says Chef Lisa Feldman, Director of Recipe Management in NorAm. “There are both planetary and health benefits. Through PlantPowered Mondays, we’re providing a pathway through the meals they eat with us, which positions us to help them meet their goals.”

Eating more plant-rich foods is one of the most impactful actions consumers can take

to address climate change. According to One Green Planet, if Americans eating an animalheavy diet shifted to more plant-based foods, a one-day reduction of greenhouse gas emissions would be the same as eliminating 661 million miles driven by passenger vehicles.

Plant-Powered launched in the summer of 2022. Working with the Segments, Chef Feldman and her team reviewed thousands of Sodexo recipes, adding the most delicious ones to a recipe toolkit to assist with planning menus. Using consumer insights to ensure Sodexo’s understanding of the ingredients and dishes our guests want to experience, each dish was required to be flavor-focused to bring out the best in every ingredient and globally inspired to provide authentic flavors from around the world. “Plant-Powered allowed us to begin normalizing plant-based eating once a week,” Chef Feldman says. “We’re not trying to radicalize what we offer. These dishes are aligned with what we’re already serving.”

Plant-Powered serves an additional purpose in a time when inflation threatens margin. Using less animal-based protein in a dish reduces food cost immensely, as plant-based dishes typically have a food cost that is 20 percent lower than animal protein dishes.

A whimsical in-café and social media campaign engaged and educated guests on the benefits of plant-based eating. “We took a positive approach,” Chef Feldman says. “Plant-Powered is about empowerment, not reduction.”

Plant-Powered has been popular with guests. Locations in the Campus Segment increased their plant-based menu offerings by more than 7 percent across the board. At the US House of Representatives, four prominent Representatives reached out to the General Manager asking for more choices for their climate-conscious staff members. Plant-Powered Mondays created a perfect solution.

Guest engagement has increased because guests know they can enjoy a great meal and help to create a better world.

“Climate-friendly eating connects people.”

Lisa Feldman Director, Recipe Management North America

Chile’s Veggie Offer

Promoting Responsible Food Consumption

Our guests expect companies to take action through their products and services. Sodexo Chile addressed the growing food-related environmental and health concerns through Veggie Offer, which promotes the consumption of sustainable food through plant-based nutrition, animal health and welfare, and raising awareness on the influence food decisions have on the planet.

Veggie Offer is varied and nutritionally balanced, highlighted by sustainable ingredients and fresh and seasonal foods. Nutritionist Elizabeth Luna of the Equilíbrate Program, Food Transformation’s Lorena Muñoz and Round Table Chef Cristopher Paredes delivered more than 100 main dishes, soups and creams, low-calorie options and desserts. A major commitment was to invite guests to be part of the veggie experience and increase plant-based food consumption.

In alliance with the Chilean company NotCo, Sodexo Chile’s E&R Segment developed a retail veggie offer for cafeterias and pubs built around non-meat hamburgers. NotCo is famous for replicating animal products with plants, using artificial intelligence called Giuseppe and resulting in a range of products that includes milk, ice cream, hamburgers, nuggets and mayonnaise. The veggie offer is successfully implemented in five retail sites. Guests have been changing their consumption habits and becoming more flexitarian every day.

Plant-Based Menus

A Winning Collaboration between Culinary and Clinical

In 2019, New York City Health + Hospitals (NYC H+H) piloted Meatless Mondays throughout their 11 acute care hospitals. This pilot provided the chef’s recommendation of meatless choices for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Menu items were well received during the pilot, and acceptance of meatless menu items remains consistently over 97 percent. Following the successful pilot, the team knew there was an opportunity to expand the plant-based menu to other days of the week.

Culinary expert Chef Phil Demaiolo and a team of Registered Dietitian Nutritionists knew that if the plant-based menu was to be successful, a joint effort was required, blending the art and science of food preparation. The menu and approach would be science-based, while pushing for restaurant-quality meals within the hospital.

The result was nine delicious, plant-based lunch dishes that have continued to receive rave reviews from patients. Since launching in March 2022, the entrées have received 80 percent overall satisfaction from patients and plant-based dishes are now standard options for patient lunches.

Dietitians rolled the program out to the patients, staff and community, sharing the science and positive environmental impact behind the meals. Optimized tray presentation highlighted plant-based meal benefits, with educational materials provided to patients to encourage eating plant-based meals once they leave the hospital.

“It’s been a great partnership,” says Samantha Morgenstern, a Registered Dietitian and Sodexo Director of Nutrition for NYC H+H. “It really has brought to life the role dietitians play in promoting plant-based nutrition and its impact on health and well-being.”

The initiative has been so successful, the team is currently preparing to roll out a plant-based dinner menu, showcasing the importance of collaboration between culinary excellence and clinical expertise.

David Mulcahy Food Innovation and Sustainability Director Schools and Universities

Sodexo UK and Ireland

Better Food Creates a Brighter Future

Schools Put More Plant-Based Dishes on the Menu

Walk down any busy street and you can’t fail to notice the increase in vegetarian, vegan and plant-based dishes on menus. Consumers are embracing diets that are healthier and more sustainable, and this trend is reflected in our schools’ and universities’ catering services too.

School meals need to be cost effective, yet innovative products and ingredients often come with a high price tag. We also need to be mindful that any new ingredients meet standards for salt, sugar and fat intake. While this isn’t commonly an issue for plant-based foods, protein and meat alternatives can have higher levels so our development chefs will take this into account when creating delicious whole food and alternative protein dishes.

I’d like to offer some of the initiatives and solutions that work for us.

Sharing Ideas, Ingredients and Inspiration

I’m involved in events that discuss public sector catering trends, sustainable food options and ways to encourage people to try plant-based dishes. It’s a great way to share insights and best practices with suppliers, our chefs and the wider industry.

Engaging Young Diners

Making Food Fashionable and Familiar

Young people look for dishes they can share on social media, so we should deliver a wow factor while also serving food that feels familiar yet may have different ingredients. Strong supplier partnerships, pop-up food stands and theme days help create that muchneeded buzz.

In 2022, Sodexo and WWF launched Plant+ by Finer Diner across a selection of schools, a concept combining plant-based dishes with interactive information, school challenges, teacher toolkits and more. And we held taster sessions in our schools where the top meat-based dishes were replaced with versions made from 100-percent plants, grains or vegetables.

Partnering with the Experts

Through our partnership with London chef restaurateur Chantelle Nicholson, we run masterclasses, create signature dishes and host thought leadership seminars with pupils, parents and teachers, focusing on sustainable eating and environmental topics.

Encouraging Chefs to be Adventurous

Through the UK Future Food Collective events and chef round tables, we aim to ignite our chefs’ passion for sustainable meat-free and plantbased ingredients and provide delicious, healthy and nutritious food choices, while being kind to the planet.

As school leaders become increasingly aware of issues such as nutrition, climate change and food waste, there’s an opportunity to establish lifelong healthy habits. And Sodexo is here to provide school meals that reflect food trends, promote healthier eating, taste delicious and provide varied and appealing food for all students.

In May 2022, Sodexo opened the new restaurant C30 at the Shell campus in The Hague, Netherlands. The time was ideal to deploy the first fully plant-forward/vegetarian restaurant within the Shell Global contract. We wanted to bring the future of employee dining to life, with a vision for more plantbased meals.

Executive Chef Kees Borst and Development

Chef Rodney Zeiler collaborated with cater lead Michel Kouer to shape the proposal, giving the client the confidence and reassurance that an entire outlet without meat-based recipes was right for this global hub, and that it complemented the overall business. The offer was inspired by the high street and the many plant-forward restaurants in the market. With street food, deli bar, bespoke salads and homestyle classics, we included new and innovative recipes. Future 50 foods provided much inspiration, along with a variety of sustainable ingredients that are both good for the planet and good for our guests.

Guests will find many new protein alternatives in C30’s recipes. The food is as simple as

Plant-Forward at The Hague

possible, providing lower levels of fat, sugar and salt while focusing on fresh vegetables and fruits. We are passionate about locally sourced ingredients as well as wonky (aka unloved and ungraded) fruit and vegetables. All disposables are biodegradable, fitting within Shell’s and Sodexo’s sustainability ambitions.

Chefs and the service team are front and center. Plant-forward chef Stella is passionate and committed to taking things to the next level. One can smell the wonders of her freshly baked cakes that include wonky vegetables and seasonal produce. Fair-Trade Banana Loaf and Beetroot & Chocolate Brownies are both hits.

C30 is a modern place to grab a meal, takeaway or relax with friends in a stunning environment. There is seating for dining or relaxing with a Mixology coffee or freshly made juice from the Blitz Bar. Guest feedback has been very positive. We are pleased to hear from many guests who state that they are more than happy to miss a meat dish in favor of a plant-based one.

New Restaurant C30 Stands Apart

WORLD OCEAN DAY

Delicious without Fish

Observing World Ocean Day in Germany

Recognizing that healthy ecosystems need healthy oceans, Sodexo in Central Europe observed World Ocean Day on June 8 by cooking “in the spirit of the fish.” Delicious fish-free dishes were created using fish substitutes that taste like the sea.

In each dish, tuna was substituted with Vuna, a vegan tuna substitute. The plant-based fish alternative is made from just six ingredients, with vegetable pea protein containing essential amino acids as the main ingredient. Oceanfriendly dishes included Vegetarian Pizza Vuna with red onions and olives;

Vegetarian Salad Niçoise with green beans, tomatoes and olives; and

Vegetarian Vuna Wrap with corn, peppers and romaine lettuce

For every dish sold, promotion partner 4Ocean will remove 1 kilo of plastic out of the sea—at least 5 tons. 4Ocean turns the plastic into bracelets, and for every bracelet sold, removes another pound of plastic from the ocean.

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Care and Compassion

Sharing food has always been part of the human story, bringing us together to provide connection, kindness and comfort to hearts and souls.

Postpartum Rehabilitation

Sodexo China Develops Nutrition Packages for New Mothers

Traditional Chinese postpartum care dates back more than 2,000 years, often taking effect in the first 90 days after childbirth. The practice was traditionally facilitated by the patient’s mother, in-laws or a hired nanny.

As people became socially progressive, women prioritized physical and mental healing, including self-care, esteem and a sense of belonging. Mental wellness can be affected when breastfeeding newborns are not hitting standard weight or growth milestones. Postpartum care is an extension to hospital

services, providing a mediated solution to alleviate the burden to mothers and families.

The Sodexo China team developed postpartum nutrition packages for new mothers. Designed to offer two to six weeks of dietary meals based on the phases of postpartum, the offering includes wholesome, delicious and nutritious food, which contains lactogenic ingredients to help build milk supply, tonify the blood, stimulate the lymphatic system and ease digestion. PPR meal services have been deployed in four hospital sites in China.

Launching Plant-Based for Patients in Thailand

New Menus Feature Healthy Plant Proteins

There’s a reason why Bangkok is known as Food City, with chefs creating amazing plant-based specialties all around the city! And at Phyathai 2 Hospital, the plant-based trend has been incorporated into patient dining and room service. With healthy menus and encouragement to try plant proteins, PYT 2 is the first location to bring plant-based dining to patients and it’s now expanding to other facilities. For happy and healthy patients, plant-based meal service honors the Sodexo motto, “It all starts with the everyday.”

Supporting the Community One Coffee at a Time

City, University of London Partners with Change Please

When Sodexo’s Contract Director Justin Walwyn was looking to refresh the coffee offer at City, University of London’s busiest café outlet, The Coffee House, he was keen to explore avenues that offered great taste and visual appeal, yet also delivered a social impact. One issue that was particularly on his mind was homelessness. He discovered Change Please at a business meeting and contacted founder Cemal Ezel.

Change Please empowers and trains people experiencing homelessness to be baristas, while paying them the Living Wage, helping with housing, therapy and onward employment. City, University of London was the first university location to support Change Please and Cemal

says universities are game-changing outlets. “Students are our future leaders and teachers— they are a socially minded generation. The impact of our partnership with Sodexo at City has been something I could never have imagined,” says Cemal.

Justin says the partnership has really paid off and provided a great opportunity to do something good. One-hundred percent of the profits go to changing the lives of people experiencing homelessness. “The students are really engaged with it, they understood the purpose from the start, and they’re on board with the message,” he adds.

“When you speak to the students, it becomes clear how much they value the option to support an organization like ours through the simple everyday act of buying a coffee.”

Cemal Ezel Founder Change Please

Sodexo Nutritionists Present at São Paulo Conference

Important Research Shared with Industry Colleagues

At Ganepão Congress 2022, the largest nutrition conference in Latin America, three Sodexo nutritionists presented their work to attendees. Their works were chosen through an internal Sodexo contest aimed at addressing patient and student health and were then presented at the congress in São Paulo, Brazil, under the overall theme of School and Hospital Nutrition.

Mariana Lucca de Assis studied the impact of ultra-processed food consumed by schoolchildren. Leide Fernandes Cordeiro researched support needed for obese students who were sick with COVID-19. And Daniela da Silva Cornelius encouraged greater acceptance of supplements by patients who need to recover muscle mass.

Their research demonstrates how Sodexo nutritionists impact lives in healthcare facilities and educational institutions and provide continuing education and support, not only for patients and students but also for the entire family unit. These nutritionists are devoted to improving lives through their love of nutrition.

A Thank-You BBQ

Celebrating the Dedicated Volunteers at UK’s SCRATCH

Chef Malcolm Smith and Robert Davis from Sodexo Pharmaceuticals shared their culinary talents with the dedicated volunteers at SCRATCH in Southampton, UK, to thank them for their devotion and giving spirit during the past year. SCRATCH, which stands for Southampton City and Region Action to Combat Hardship, provides services which relieve the effects of poverty for families and individuals in the area. More than 50 volunteers who donated their time and energy to SCRATCH celebrated at this year’s BBQ and enjoyed chef-prepared foods, including Cumberland sausages, harissa chicken skewers, lemon and thyme griddled halloumi, chive potato salad, strawberries with broken meringue and dark chocolate sauce, gluten-free banana cake with crème fraîche and many other mouthwatering dishes.

Chef Malcolm Smith and Robert Davis

Congress participants included Natália Lopes from Nutritotal and three Sodexo nutritionists: Mariana Lucca de Assis serving at GayLussac Institute, Leide Fernandes Cordeiro serving at Santa Paula Hospital and Daniela da Silva Cornelius serving at Mãe de Deus Hospital.

SoJi Soup

Timely, Tasty and Traditional

SoJi Soup offers hot and nutritious soups to patients, healthcare workers and visitors. Targeting cancer, post-op and maternity patients, SoJi soup elevates the role of nutrition across the continuum of care, ensuring patients get the nutrition needed for health and healing. By adding traditional Chinese herbs, ingredients and natural foods, the concept aligns with Chinese dietary therapy to drive recovery and improve outcomes. SoJi is also a great choice for healthcare professionals after long hours of work and caregiving. The menu is supported by dedicated dietitians who ensure the right data is available and is relevant to the needs and tastes of consumer demographics, both ethnically and geographically. SoJi has been deployed in South China’s Guangzhou Cancer Hospital for more than six years, and the China team rejuvenated it in 2022. It’s rolling out nationally with menus tailored to the local tastes of consumers from regions outside of South China. SoJi is complementary to our current food portfolio and drives organic growth in both current sites and new prospects.

Banana and Berry Smoothie Bowl by Chef Aymeric Halbmeyer

From awards to festivals, we’ve had a year of momentous occasions and competitions that are worthy of recognition and celebration.

Celebrations and Events 06

Formula 1 Racing

Sodexo Live! Races to a Best-in-Class Fan Experience

Chef Dayanny De La Cruz has made her mark on some of Miami’s biggest sporting events at Hard Rock Stadium. In Spring 2022, Hard Rock Stadium and Sodexo Live! hosted its newest global event—the inaugural Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix. Chef D brought all the flavors of Miami to the track for F1 as the world watched the race unfold. Sodexo Live!’s efforts continued after the race with a 90,000-pound donation of prepared but unused food to the greater Miami community in need.

Karen Ford-Sneddon Wins Healthcare Catering Title

Recognition for Professionalism and Compassion

The prestigious Contract Catering Awards were held in March 2022, and the Healthcare Catering Award was presented to Karen Ford-Sneddon, Patient Dining Manager at Queen’s Hospital, Romford, UK. She was awarded the title in recognition for her professionalism, compassion and ability to adapt the patient dining services at the hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. She provided valuable supervisory support, stepping in when her colleagues were out sick or isolating.

In addition to her devotion to patient dining in challenging times, Karen improves service for patients and has introduced a braille menu to help visually impaired patients. She has also worked on a six-month project that focuses on improving quality of nutrition and hydration to reduce the prevalence of malnutrition and suboptimal nutrition care in patients.

Sodexo Chef Wins Top StrEATfood Award

Adam Collison Takes Coveted Title

Chef Adam Collison won StrEATfood’s top prize for Chef of the Year 2022. He’s the Head Chef for Bruntwood SciTech at Alderley Park in Cheshire, part of the UK Corporate Services business. Chef Collison’s winning menu featured three creative dishes, including Duck Waffle as his signature dish, Pan Asian Chili Chicken and Cheese as his technical dish, and Quorn, Sea Salt and Caramel Ice Cream Waffle Cone with Pear and Quorn Compote as his meat-free dish.

The StrEATfood Awards recognize the UK’s most creative street food chefs from the workplace and event catering industries, with its live competition allowing caterers and chefs to present their street food innovations to a panel of judges. Talented chefs like Chef Collison shine a light on the culinary expertise we have within our business.

Launching Energize at India’s University Games

Sports Nutrition Program Fuels Athletes

Sodexo launched its comprehensive nutrition solution Energize at the largestever university-level sports competition Khelo India, held at JAIN University in Bangalore in April and May 2022. Energize is a holistic program to equip athletes with proper nutrition and game-ready facilities at sports campuses.

Sodexo was the catering partner for the sports mega-event, serving 300,000 meals to more than 5,000 athletes, coaches and technical officials from 208 universities across India. Sports nutrition plays an extremely important role in helping

athletes deliver their best performances, and one aspect of Sodexo’s Energize program focuses on food and nutrition, helping athletes fuel their training pre-, in- and post-season with menus designed by expert sports nutritionists.

Sodexo’s culinary team during the university games consisted of more than 500 chefs, kitchen and service staff, organizing a 26,000-square-foot kitchen over four venues with another 50,000 square feet of dining facilities at six venues, with support from 20-year client Jain University.

Founder of JAIN Group and Chancellor of JAIN University

“We share a long partnership with Sodexo...Their exceptional turnaround time in getting the onsite kitchen and catering infrastructure ready was indeed praiseworthy.”

Dr. Chenraj Roychand

Brinkskolan in Täby is Sweden’s Best School Restaurant

Described as a “Next-to-Perfect Experience”

The school food guide White Guide Junior has awarded Brinkskolan in Täby the “School Restaurant of the Year” award. The meal services are run by Sodexo with head chef Michael Oscarsson at the helm. The meal received 95 out of 100 possible points and the food received 19 out of 20 possible points.

The jury describes the meals at Brinkskolan as the best they have eaten in White Guide Junior’s ten-year history, and that “Sodexo has orchestrated this nextto-perfect experience…It is the chef Michael Oskarsson who plays the first violin, flanked by a group of sharp colleagues who are not only allowed, but indeed encouraged, to take initiatives.”

The White Guide Junior jury visits hundreds of schools every year in search of role models of public gastronomy, assessing taste and nutrition, the meal environment, service, pedagogical collaboration, commitment from the principal, municipal investments, sustainability and other parameters that contribute to enhancing the meal experience for the students. Täby’s schools had a total of eight nominations in three categories this year: School Chef of the Year, School Restaurant of the Year and Green School Meal of the Year.

A Hero of Everyday Life

Chef Donald Hawkins Is Devoted to Solving Hunger Issues

Donald Hawkins, Executive Chef at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia, recently received the Heroes of Everyday Life Award from Sodexo for his efforts in reducing hunger in communities.

Hawkins joined Sodexo in 2008 at George Washington University and worked in conjunction with DC Central Kitchen to train, mentor and develop displaced individuals into new jobs, while also hiring disabled, spectrumbased and special-needs employees. He’s been at Shenandoah for close to 12 years, continuing to make an impact in the lives of others through a DC Central Kitchen spinoff that’s now called the Food Recovery Network.

“It takes a small army to make a difference sometimes, and that is where I come in,’’ says Chef Hawkins. “I try to bring awareness with my staff as to how we can better utilize the products and better utilize the products for individuals that are less fortunate. I ask them, ‘Can we do something good with this?’’’

Chef Hawkins received a $5,000 check to donate to a charity of his choice. “I chose to donate it to the Food Recovery Network at Shenandoah University,” Hawkins said.

MasakChef A Fiery Cooking Competition

And the Award Goes to…

Portfolio and Service Development Leader Ronald Minezes

Ronald Minezes has won Sodexo India's Be Client and Consumer Centric award for 2022. Head of Portfolio and Service Development, Ronald was instrumental in creating an environment for change management in food service with changing consumer requirements, behavior and market trends.

He partnered with Segments and led from the front for branded food programs like Food & Co, Yoo, and Kitchen Works co. He worked closely with Marketing and Sales for key accounts and took ownership of the Love of Food quarterly newsletter, which is read worldwide. He closely coordinates with Corporate Communications in India for tweets, campaigns and photography sessions and adds to Sodexo’s presence across social media.

APAC’s Business & Industry Segment created MasakChef, an in-house cooking competition where teams of contestants are challenged to create a fresh and innovative meal. Through this competition, contestants share their Love of Food with one another and foster stronger relationships.

The name MasakChef comes from Behasa Melayu, where masak means “cook.” Working with a theme, each team had to put together innovative recipes and curated meals. Racing against the clock, the teams prepare, cook, plate and serve an appetizer, salad and main course for the judges. The contest challenges the contestants to cook under pressure, communicate and work efficiently.

Unlike the usual team building activities, MasakChef is different and interactive. It is a fiery competition, spicing up the everyday experience for our guests. We look forward to rolling this out for our clients and other employees. We hope everyone is ready to Masak!

Food Services Director Srikanth Vasantharajan with award winner Ronald Minezes

Sodexo UK&I Chef of the Year 2022

Development Chef Kyle Bowman Takes Title

Development Chef Kyle Bowman was named Sodexo Chef of the Year 2022 UK and Ireland in a live cook-off at this year’s Hotel, Restaurant, and Catering (HRC) event held at ExCel London. Kyle represented Sodexo Live!, the organizations’ Sports and Leisure Segment, making an impression on the competition judges with his street food menu using plant-based and Future 50 foods, as well as sustainably sourced Norwegian seafood. He competed against eight chefs from across Sodexo UK & Ireland.

Receiving gold best in class for his menu, Kyle scored highly for his complex flavors, presentation and sustainable ingredients. His menu began with a starter of Tom Kha Gai, a Thai coconut soup served in biodegradable bowls. For his main course,

he served chorizo-battered Norwegian cod, bravas fritas, mojo verde and mashed fava beans. For dessert, Kyle created a Snickers chocolate éclair, made with peanuts, nougat, caramel, chocolate and vanilla cream.

Kyle, a lifelong Newcastle FC fan, is based at St James’s Park, where he works in the fine dining area, evolving and developing the menu. Kyle will now participate in an exclusive study trip to Norway to discover the country’s amazing cuisine and visit sustainable fish farms courtesy of Seafood from Norway. Chef Bowman said on his win, “I was influenced by global flavors and wanted to make the menu as sustainable as possible. As a chef, it is important to be able to adapt, not just to changing tastes, but also to the need for more sustainable ingredients.”

“This year’s competition was designed to be relevant…not only with the street food theme but also with an increased focus on sustainable ingredients and minimizing food waste. Although the style of food was more informal than previous competitions, it still was a big test of the chef’s skills, and the outcomes were excellent.”

David Mulcahy Food Innovation and Sustainability Director Schools and Universities Sodexo UK and Ireland

A Bollywood Theme Welcomes Back Students

Ten-Day Food Festival Kicks Off the School Year

In early 2022, Sodexo India welcomed back the students of O.P. Jindal Global University after two years of at-home learning. The campus was abuzz with a festival atmosphere as Sodexo chefs treated students to a culinary food journey across the various regions of India and the world. During the 10-day food festival, Chefs Rohan Shinde, Rhuy Sethi, Santosh Mishra, Hansraj Sampat and many other chefs from across Food Services prepared regional food from Punjab, Rajasthan and Mumbai to create a Bollywood Night theme, as well as global food for a Streets of New York theme.

Brazil’s Regional Festivals

Highlighting Guest-Centric Gastronomy

In Brazil, 13 Regional Festivals were developed this year, offering guests differentiated menus that drive business results with a new, guest-centric gastronomic approach. The festivals highlighted Brazilian food customs and diverse dishes from regions across the country. With a goal of innovation, the festival menus were created by chefs and operators through the Chefs Round Table with its 15 participating Instructor Chefs and the support of the Food Intelligence team, led by Gastronomic

Consultant Plínio Viana and Planning Assistant Jéssica Cheruti. Three Food Intelligence Menu Analysts assisted in the planning.

We set goals for recipe and menu development, prioritizing regional specialties and clear financial targets, to ensure guest satisfaction and margin growth. Each festival’s recipe book was available to our operations teams, and new marketing campaigns in our restaurants enticed our guests to enjoy our regional festivals.

Karl Griffiths Wins Big at Craft Guild of Chefs Awards

An Incredible Honor Bestowed on a Sodexo Chef

Karl Griffiths was awarded the title of Contract Catering Chef of the Year at the 2022 Craft Guild of Chefs, held in June at Magazine London. The Craft Guild of Chefs Awards are seen as the chefs’ Oscars, recognizing the exceptional talent across the hospitality industry.

Karl is the Head Chef for Sodexo at a global pharmaceutical company, overseeing a team of 16 chefs who provide food services to 4,000 client employees and visitors through Sodexo’s flagship Modern Recipe service. He also supports Sodexo chefs’ culinary development, project-manages site openings and plays a key role in budget planning. Karl is predominantly based in the northwest of England but supports strategic planning and menu development in the UK and Sweden.

In addition to his busy day job, Karl is also an ambassador for the hospitality charity Springboard, sharing his experience with the local community by mentoring and supporting young aspiring chefs. He’s organized an eightweek cooking course for 12 of his client’s employees, which culminated in the employees joining Karl’s team in the kitchen to prepare a five-course charity dinner, raising £3,400 for East Cheshire Hospice and Sodexo’s own charity the Stop Hunger Foundation.

“Karl’s “can-do” attitude, involvement with charitable events and ability to go above and beyond the call of duty, both inside and outside of work, make him a true ambassador for our industry and a valued member of our team.”

Julie Ennis

CEO Corporate Services Sodexo UK & Ireland

Roasted Butternut Squash, Honey and Thyme by Chef Aymeric Halbmeyer

Chef Showcase

Our chefs are everyday heroes in our kitchens, sharing their talent and skills through food. Here you’ll meet amazing culinarians who inspire their teams and bring joy to our guests.

Matar Paneer by Chef Aymeric Halbmeyer

Lilian Molina

Project Director

Chef Lilian Molina is a pioneer in bringing fresh and creative concepts to the China market, launching and collaborating on projects that are unique to China’s food and beverage industry. Born and raised in the Caribbean country of Belize, she moved to China 18 years ago to chase her dream of being a chef. She started one of the first restaurant groups that focused on Caribbean and Afro-Latin cuisine. Chef Molina says she loves to play around in the kitchen, offering traditional, tropical, healthy and familial dishes made with an amazing blend of multicultural influences. She is the Project Director of Food Services and Transformation for Sodexo China, spearheading the design, development and deployment of China’s Smart Eatery concept.

Chef Vegil Burce Jr. started as a kitchen assistant in a famous local restaurant, then explored a wide culinary world as a commis chef and sous chef for more than 14 years in prestigious hotels and cruise ships. He’s now Head Chef with Sodexo at Google sites. Chef Burce juggled his culinary career while pursuing a Master of Business Administration degree and teaching at his university. Cooking is his lifelong passion, and he draws strength and inspiration from his peers, the kitchen team and his family as he brings innovative dishes to life.

Food Services and Transformation

Sodexo China | Changning, Shanghai

Vegil Burce Jr.

Head Chef Google Quezon City Manilla, Philippines

Israel Canales

Food Offer Manager

Sodexo Spain

Madrid, Spain

In Chef Israel Canales’ childhood home in Caceres, in Spain’s Iberian Penisula, the family cooked everything fresh from the garden and farm. He helped his mom make desserts as far back as he can remember, inspiring him to start culinary school by age 16. After he finished his studies, he traveled all over Spain, spending time working in the historic Spanish Paradores hotels and fine restaurants in Barcelona. Those experiences inspired his passion for regional recipes using local ingredients. Chef Canales cooks many authentic dishes, stews and paellas and loves the smoky aromas of grilled meats.

Who knew hearing “You’ll never make it as a chef!” from a second-semester culinary instructor would ignite such passion and drive in Chef Jon Dubrick. After attending Washburne Culinary Academy, he held Executive Chef positions at several high-profile restaurants in Chicago and started his own high-end catering business and restaurant. Chef Dubrick is a Senior Manager on the NorAm Culinary Development Team, with an amazing combination of culinary talent, sincere passion for what he does and an endless quest for culinary perfection.

Very competitive in nature, he’s competed on the national and international levels in swimming, earning multiple top 10 world finish times. When he’s not in the pool, he’s a national competitor in Precision Rifle Shooting.

Jon Dubrick

Senior Manager, Culinary Innovation Sodexo Headquarters Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA

Chef Anna Louie grew up in a culture where food always played a big role, from visiting the market to cooking with her mother and grandma. She believes that food is the connection that brings people together to share a nourishing meal. Deciding to be a chef in her junior year of high school, she started reading cookbooks, watching culinary shows and learning about food, flavors and techniques.

In her current role, she leads Culinary Development, helping to position Sodexo in a broader market, constructing seasonal menus, researching and developing food services, and crafting a thoughtful culinary experience for guests. Her cooking philosophy focuses on the ingredients to let them shine. She says, “Cooking should be fun, inspirational, personal and open to interpretation.”

Anna Louie Director, Culinary Services Nourish Inc. San Francisco, California, USA

Chef Lukas Oliveira joined Sodexo with a passion for cooking, especially baking, and he was noted for his delicious and creative recipes! When the pandemic shut down his location, he launched his own baking business. Soon he was invited to join the culinary team at the Sodexo office in São Paulo, where he creates incredible and delicious desserts for our employees. His lunchtime desserts are incredibly popular and he receives orders for cakes and candies.

Always focused on customer service, Chef Oliveira has a special gift for sharing his beautiful and tasty desserts, and he receives many compliments about his creations, with everyone asking for his recipes and his baking advice.

Lukas Oliveira Baker São Paulo, Brazil

With Sodexo since 2015, Chef Josip Lucic has worked at several high-profile sites and helped develop Peter + Silie, Sodexo’s first vegetarian and vegan menu. Peter + Silie is a wildly successful Sodexo Service with menus redesigned for each new season. Chef Lucic has a passion for food, new ideas and training new culinarians.

With Catering Manager Kurt Borcheit and his team, he created a green menu for a Corporate Services site in Frankfurt to help our client reach their sustainability goals, developing vegan dishes that also work for guests who choose to add meat or fish. This approach marks a milestone for Sodexo Germany, launching new menus and recipes for the future focused on sustainability, regionality and seasonality.

Lucic

Chef Ashwin Iyangar hails from the small town of Virar near Mumbai. Born into a family of hoteliers, Ashwin showed interest in cooking as young as five years old when he tried to make dosa alongside his mother. He’s currently the Culinary Lead for India’s Food Services and plays a vital role in product development, creating menu architecture for new food services, on-site mobilization support and bid support. Chef Iyangar embraces the idea of food without borders, often merging multiple cuisines, and defines his style of cooking as modern, comforting and soul satisfying. He’s a staunch supporter of sustainable cooking, using local ingredients in his creations, and he was a Regional Finalist in Sodexo's Global Sustainable Chef Challenge.

Josip

Head Chef Corprate Services Frankfurt, Germany

Ashwin Iyangar

Culinary Lead Food Services Mumbai, India

Kayley Boyle

Kayley Boyle has a big job in the Mile High City, but she takes it in stride. As Sodexo Live!’s Executive Chef at the Colorado Convention Center and Denver Performing Arts Complex, the Denver native caters for groups of all sizes, from 90 to 9,000 visitors. But it’s all about work-life balance for this chef, whose love of food was inherited from her mom.

She utilizes a 6,000-square-foot farm on-site, with 40 raised garden beds, a water-retention pond, irrigation systems and its own bees. The farm grows up to 5,000 pounds of produce each season for its menus. With perseverance and determination, Chef Boyle is finding creative and sustainable ways to lessen our carbon footprint.

Chef Rohan Shinde has been with Sodexo for more than four years as part of Food Services and has recently moved to the Education Segment. He has played crucial roles in mobilizing important accounts and supporting the on-site operations teams.

Recently Chef Shinde created an extensive low-GI menu for a key account, showcasing his culinary and presentation skills. He created an array of delicious food, including made-to-order Mediterranean dishes, a build-it-yourself antipasto station and amazing desserts like pumpkin and walnut brownies, ABC (apple, banana and chia seed) pudding and sugar-free blueberry mousse. He’s recognized for his incredible support in bids, mobilization, VIP events and more.

Rohan Shinde

Regional Cluster Chef Schools and Universities

Bengaluru, India

Executive Chef, Sodexo Live! Colorado Convention Center and the Denver Performing Arts Complex Denver, Colorado, USA

Born in France to French and Italian parents, Pierre Deprez was cooking alongside his mum and grandparents since he was six years old. By 19, he started culinary school and quickly gained experience with airlines, Harrods, hotels, resorts, traditional French restaurants and VIP catering. He lived in the UK for five years before moving to Madrid 22 years ago. Chef Deprez has been the Food Services Manager for Sodexo Spain for more than a decade and says he loves discovering new food cultures and trying new dishes from all over the world.

Pierre Deprez Menu Planning Manager Sodexo Spain Madrid, Spain

Chef Stuart Bowman has been with Sodexo for eight years, and one highlight of his career was organizing and delivering a Stop Hunger dinner to 150 guests, raising £4,000, enough to offer a meal to 16,000 people—an experience he says was very humbling. From the North East of England, his passion for food comes from his mother, who encouraged him to cook—and clean up as he went. Chef Bowman always wanted to be a chef because he was interested in how food was prepared before the final dish was presented and says, “I learned early on that no two days are the same. That continues to keep me interested because chefs are always learning.”

Stuart Bowman

Development Chef Service Operations Stevenage, England

Chefs Thaísa Dias and Fabiana Rodrigues, along with a nutritionist, are part of a team that develops menus for 80 children at São Paulo’s Móbile School. To deliver a safe and tasty experience for the children, they’ve dedicated themselves to creating menus that respect the dietary restrictions, allergies and sensory issues the children may have, a huge responsibility they embrace with care and commitment. They innovate and test new recipes to ensure the children love the taste of every new dish.

They recently developed a pumpkin bread recipe that met all allergen standards and conducted several tastings with the children to identify the most delicious, nutritious version. Through research and testing, Chefs Dias and Rodrigues can now serve their inhouse bread recipe instead of sourcing bread from a supplier. The best part? The children love it and can enjoy it carefree!

Thaísa Dias da Silva and Fabiana Rodrigues da Silva

Alan Thomas

One of Sodexo’s most accomplished and longestserving chefs, Alan Thomas has served IPC Magazines, the Metropolitan Police, Bupa, Transport for London, University College London, the 2012 Olympics, Hackney Community College and, in 2022, became head chef at City, University of London.

With a career spanning more than 40 years, he’s set up new units and teams and developed Sodexo’s food services and menus, as well as trained and inspired countless young chefs. His talent, experience and flair for all things food has long been recognized, with Chef Thomas recently being named one of 40 Culinary Heroes by the Craft Guild of Chefs for delivering above and beyond during the pandemic.

Móbile School

São Paulo, Brazil

Head Chef City, University of London London, England

Julien Delaire

Executive Chef

Sogeres Enterprise Paris, France

Julien Delaire joined Sodexo France 16 years ago and has served as Executive Chef for Sogeres since 2016. He’s passionate about creating high-quality plant-based dishes with sustainable ingredients. Born in Paris, Chef Delaire started culinary school at 15, gaining experience at the Ritz Hotel and Bristol Hotels in Paris and Italy. He spent three years in the UK as a food and beverage manager for Campanile and Novotel Hotels before returning to Paris for a similar position at the four-star Concorde Montparnasse Hotel.

In his time with Sodexo, he’s met many famous chefs who’ve helped him develop his skill and culinary vision. He’s especially fond of Italian food and French pastries and recently trained with a world champion pizzaiolo.

Chef José Rodriguez Rey, or Chef Pepe as he likes to be called, says that cooking is not his profession, but rather a way of life and his true obsession. He has received numerous accolades, including Chef of the Year and Pastry Chef of the Year by The Best of Gastronomy magazine, Best Chef by the Royal Spanish Academy of Gastronomy, a Chef Milessime award and a Michelin star for his restaurant El Bohio, which is a learning center for new generations of chefs focused on quality, exclusivity and perfection.

José Rodriguez Rey

Executive Chef Spain

Watch Chef Pepe in action.

Evelien de Bot was born on her parents’ ship and has had a passion for food since she was five years old. She started working for Sodexo as a temporary worker, and for the past two years, she’s been at Sodexo’s Headquarters in Rotterdam. She serves as Facility Team Lead and Chef, being responsible for both facilities and catering. With her abundant energy, she inspires guests to explore plant foods and vegetables and she’s focused on creating beautiful and delicious plant-based dishes.

Evelien de Bot

Team Lead/Chef

Sodexo Headquarters Qlubhuis

Rotterdam, Netherlands

Chef David Santiago has been with Sodexo for more than 30 years and has always provided a great dining experience to guests and clients. He’s been part of the Energy & Resources Segment for decades and has worked on various installations, from barges and jackup rigs to drill ships and diving vessels.

Chef David pioneered the plant-based movement for the segment and developed and deployed multiple millet-based recipes. His most recent plant-based contribution was introducing the use of aquafaba—boiled chickpea water—to create wonderful desserts. He’s celebrated for his innovation and his Love of Food with his authentic and appetizing recipes.

David Santiago

Segment Chef

Energy & Resources

Mumbai, India

Todd McKinnon

Regional Manager of Culinary Development Toronto, Canada

Within months of starting his new role as Regional Culinary Manager, Chef Todd McKinnon successfully opened a new acute care account, transforming a patient kitchen overnight and providing meal service to 300 patients on opening day. With a passion to learn, advanced culinary skills and positive demeanor, he has developed and deployed exciting new catering menus, garnering new business as he delights clients and customers within the Health & Care Segment in Canada. Chef McKinnon also participated in the Stop Hunger Foundation gala, demonstrating team spirit and highlighting Sodexo’s Quality of Life services through innovative plantforward menus.

A Delicious Outlook

In taking time to recognize and applaud the accomplishments of our chefs, culinarians and dietitians for a tremendous year, we look ahead with wonder at the food landscape unfolding before us. With plantbased, sustainable and wellness foods starring in our menus, we believe that good ingredients, extraordinary meals and shared experiences matter more than ever. We are dedicated—and passionate—about preserving natural resources, exploring new ideas and implementing positive change so we can continue to share our best with you and future generations.

Eggplant Caviar, Fried Paratha and Rose-Petal Raita and Guacamole Toast with Poached Egg by Chef Aymeric Halbmeyer.

Opposite page: Lentil Dahl with Flatbread and Grilled Sea Bass Tacos with Red Cabbage and Pomegranate. This page: Bakery Assortment; Pink Tzatziki, Lebanese Pita and Iranian Saffron; and Fresh Fruit Bowl and Crunchy Quinoa. All by Chef Aymeric Halbmeyer.

Bread and pastries from Boulangerie Jarry, Montreal.