Our truly sustainable top ten

As part of our commitment to the environment and the communities in which we work, Compass operates a policy of sustainable purchasing.

1. We buy more British meat than any other UK caterer
Every animal is reared to high standards for animal welfare. Every cut meets quality assurance criteria and we can trace it back to the farms of origin. An example of our British meat suppliers include Woodland Pigs, which raises free range pigs with plenty of space to run around.

2. We buy a lot of our meat from our award-winning strategic partner, Ensors
Based in Gloucestershire, Ensors is a family business with over 70 years' experience and led by farmer, Robert Ensor. They are committed to supporting the long-term future of British farming and ensuring it remains sustainable.

3. We support artisan bakeries in the UK
With our partnership with Enterprise Foods, a network of local craft bakeries from around the country, no loaf of bread travels more than 30 miles to reach our clients. Some of their bakeries have been run by the same families for generations and have been part of the community for nearly 100 years.

4. We serve 39,000,000 Lion Quality British eggs a year
Our eggs are sourced from Oaklands Farm Eggs where they are produced to the highest standards of food safety and animal welfare. A team of vastly experienced people strive to produce healthy birds that produce first-class eggs. They rear the birds from day-old chicks to ensure high levels of welfare and traceability.

5. We buy 20 million litres of British milk a year
In the purchasing process we support 82 British farms and purchase enough milk to fill eight Olympic swimming pools!

6. All the fish we buy comes from sustainable well managed marine sources
Compass recently became the first foodservice company to state we would not buy any fish on the Marine Conservation Society's (MCS) 'Fish to Avoid' list.

7. All of our bananas are Fairtrade
We also offer Fairtrade and Rain Forest Alliance coffee and tea. Fairtrade and Organic wine sales have increased by 30% in the last year. As a business we are determined to be at the forefront of Fairtrade in foodservice and it is a key part of the sustainable sourcing pillar in our Corporate Responsibility Policy. 

8. We are proud to purchase seasonal British vegetables, whenever we can
95% of these vegetables are purchased direct from British growers. For example, our Broccoli is from the Isle of Grain in Kent, grown by a company called J. Castle, which has been farming in this location for several generations.  

9. Over 30% of the products we supply are transported in vehicles run on bio-diesel
Our two core distributors, Brakes and 3663, use biodiesel in a third of their delivery vehicles. Bio-diesel is far less damaging to the environment than fossil fuels because it produces far less CO₂.

10. We have over 5,000 trained chefs working in Compass Group
As all these people understand the importance of sustainability, we hope that they, in turn, will teach these principles to other  people.