Brakes Comes Out Top at Green Business Awards

Brakes Group, one of the leading suppliers to the foodservice industry, took gold at the Green Champions (Suppliers) category at the Green Business Awards for 2010 beating other finalists, Guy’s and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust for the top prize.

This highly coveted award is testimony to Brakes Group corporate sustainable and environmental achievements throughout 2010 which indicate the company’s passion and dedication to green issues in business.

Judges were impressed by Brakes’ environmental innovations which included:

• Being the first in foodservice to launch MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) certified products: removing endangered species instead using less well-known fish like gurnard and Cornish albacore.

• Being first in foodservice to introduce Red Tractor meat and now selling nearly 300 products bearing the logo. Red Tractor is an independent mark of quality which assures its buyers that the meat is sourced from farms and food companies that ensure high standards of food & safety hygiene, animal welfare and environmental protection.

• Reducing food miles by 3.2 million and being the first UK foodservice company to use the Eddie Stobart Spanish-UK weekly ‘green train’.

• Introducing ‘topless’ boxes and saving 25% in packaging – an actual saving of 100 tonnes of packaging material.

The judges were also impressed by Brakes' attainment of the ISO 14001 accreditation – an internationally recognised standard of environmental performance.

Otherwise known as the ‘Green Globes’, these awards recognise excellence in green practice, strategy and products. They highlight the most innovative, ambitious and effective initiatives by SMEs to large UK corporations for achieving environmental sustainability and implementing smart business practice.

In addition to winning the ‘Green Globe’ award, Brakes also took home an unprecedented seven gold medals at the Excellence in Food & Drink Awards in London, November 2010.

Brakes is a nominated supplier on the Ambient & Chilled Food Agreement through PfH, benefits of which include agreed PfH prices on core list items of Ambient and Chilled foods; Dedicated PfH Account Managers & Customer Services; free benchmarking service exclusive to the Ambient and Chilled Food agreement as well as on-going contract management and supplier performance monitoring.

If you would like more information on the Ambient & Chilled Food Agreement, and how to enjoy its benefits, please contact Kayleigh Blackburn on kblackburn@procurementforhousing.co.uk