Sustainability Statement

We are committed to following, improving and promoting excellent sustainability practices throughout our activities and aspire to lead our industry in the standards achieved.

All business decisions, including those relating to strategic development, will be taken with consideration given to balancing the economic needs of the company with an enduring responsibility to the quality of our global environment and the social well being of all those with whom we engage.

A grand statement but what does it actually mean? Sustainability is never “achieved” it is an ongoing endeavour to research, promote and improve. However our industry standard for sustainability is ISO14001 for which we aim to achieve formal certification within 2011.

We are certainly “on the road” but with still as many questions as answers. We have identified many targets and standards to work towards and below are some of the key areas. Our Environmental targets can be viewed from the link below.

Food Waste
We constantly work to reduce food waste. Vegetable and fruit waste (mainly peelings) are donated to a local City farm. We are working to arrange composting for all other food waste.

Recycling
Cardboard is a major waste item for us and we encourage suppliers to reducing its use. We do return some boxes to suppliers for direct re-use and the balance is recycled. Increasingly our plastic is recyclable and we encourage clients who receive plastic from us to recycle it. Paper is all recycled. We will shortly be moving to recycle all glass, tin and plastic.

Zero to landfill
Our ultimate waste management target is to achieve zero to landfill. We believe this now to be possible and expect to achieve it by October of this year.

Ingredient Sourcing
Our procurement policy is generally to buy British manufactured or grown produce whenever possible and if that is not possible for the source to be the next closest to the UK. Similarly we will buy from suppliers who are as close to our own premises as possible. Some ingredients (eg mango, pineapple, bananas) it is impossible not to source from distant countries but they are not air freighted. Our pork and beef are from UK Farm Assured farms.

Carbon Footprint
Our objective is to reduce our carbon emissions as far as is economically possible. This is possible through introduction of common sense practical habits relating to energy use. The main energy burners for us are our vans, refrigeration and ovens. In all three of these we have purchased modern highly efficient versions of each. These coupled by examining procedure and raising awareness with staff has led our energy use, despite a growing volume, to contract.

Healthy food
We are very proud of the food we make. We use excellent ingredients, prepared simply using no preservatives or colourings to make full flavoured meals which contribute well to a healthy diet. A large proportion of our purchasing is of fresh vegetables or fruit – this fact in itself indicates the dietary value of the food served at Eden.

Eden the Employer
We offer staff an industry leading place to work with a genial work culture and excellent terms of employment. We are committed to implementing the principles of the Ethical Trading Initiative Base Code. View our Ethical Policy from the link below.

Eden the Partner
We are delighted by the relationships we maintain with our clients and suppliers. We believe in absolute honesty, fairness and discretion in all dealings and have retained both clients and supplier partners for many years.

ISO14001
We operate to the standards set for ISO14001 Environmental Management Systems and aim to be certified within 2011.