The Future of Sustainable Catering

In the world of catering, ‘Sustainability’ has become a bit of a buzz word – it’s a word that often gets banded around for the sake of it, and arguably doesn’t always carry the level of responsibility it promises. Here at Juniper & Co., we’re working hard to practise what we preach in our commitment to sustainability, and are always working with the future in mind!

Responsible sourcing 

‘Good Food’ means Delicious Food, right? Right! But it’s only really, truly good food if the provenance is right. We are passionate about the food we create, and that means we take pride in everything from the sourcing of the produce, the preparation of it, the cooking, right through to the plating. We are constantly reviewing our suppliers, ensuring that their values align with ours when it comes to working with the future in mind: if it’s delicious, in season and sourced responsibly and ethically, we’re sold. 

We are proud to work with suppliers like HG Walter. Founded in 1972, there’s nothing HG doesn’t know about meat, and indeed the provenance of the products they provide us with – they supply us with meat from small British farms, rearing free-range, native breeds such as Hereford beef and Hampshire Duroc pork – their natural diets of the animals and the small scale meat production creates invaluable biodiversity for our countryside, and is something we are in full favour of. With a focus on educating both clients and suppliers on nurturing a sustainable ecosystem from start to finish, HG Walter are committed to providing and demonstrating the importance of using (and eating) quality meat, supporting supply chains and championing sustainable farming. 

Sustainable catering is all about keeping it local

Central to responsible sourcing is keeping it local. One of our fruit & vegetable suppliers, Fruve, is based just up the road from our kitchen in Epping Forest. With their electric vehicles and focus on supplying us with the best of the season, we are reducing our carbon footprint by making the most of the brilliant businesses on our doorstep. Our other supplier, 2-Serve, is a family-grown business, priding themselves on great communication and great produce, but also on ensuring the product hasn’t travelled far to get to us. 

We do our best, at every stage, to ensure that our dishes have as low an impact on the environment as possible. We work with Woods Food Service for many of our store cupboard items, who are making big moves in 2025; by 2030, the plan to be a leading Net Zero Contributor in the UK, which is one of the many reasons we continue to choose them. 

It’s crucial that we constantly monitor and vet each supplier we use, to ensure that we are known for not only brilliant catering, but more importantly, sustainable catering. We are all accountable for our actions, and supporting local, British, low-impact suppliers is essential to growth in the future.

Our Menus

We pride ourselves in creating creative, exciting, seasonal menus throughout the year – they are ever changing, in order to reflect not only what’s in season, but to capitalise on using as much of each product as possible. We use parsley in a lot of our dishes – but what about the root? Roasted, seasoned, pureed and finished with stock & brown butter, and it’s a perfect addition to a roast chicken dish! And what about the parsley stalks, once we’ve harvested them of their earthy leaves? A punchy, bright green herb oil to finish our dishes with of course! Catering becomes so much more sustainable when you use every last piece of the ingredient. 

We also lean on our suppliers to share the best produce at the right time: is there anything better than the first of the first of the Yorkshire rhubarb in January, foraged wild garlic in May, or Essex asparagus in early summer? Not only does it taste better, it feels better, and most importantly, does better. 

Whilst aligning our plates so you get the most fresh produce, we also pride ourselves on delivering the perfect portion size. We understand that catering for large events can lead to high wastage, so being precise is crucial. And of course any leftovers we do have we feed our hard working team, and delight our friends and family! 

Whether it’s giving those brown bananas a glow up with a banana bread recipe, turning otherwise forgotten cuts of meat or fish into something magnificent, or turning vegetable peelings into crisps, at Juniper & Co, we pride ourselves on making every part of the produce usable. On our plates, you’ll see a variety of innovative ways to create a no wastage supper. 

Recycling

Jerry is a much loved member of the Juniper team. He works hard, never complains, and is best friends with the fryer. He is of course a jerrycan, and joins us at events where we ensure we take away our used oil. This oil is then decanted into a large oil drum at our unit provided by Quatra, our partners, who then collect waste cooking oil in their electric vehicles. That used oil is then recycled into biofuel, reducing CO2 emissions by up to 87% compared to fossil fuels. We also lean on charities like Trussell Trust, and the Felix Project where we donate any produce we are unable to use. Our plastics, cardboards, glass and metals are all separated and recycled, too. 

Of course, there is always more we can be doing, and we are committed to always working harder for our future. Some of the many things we are looking at include:

• Weighing our waste: we are working towards uploading all our waste details to a platform to look for trends in our food wastage. By tracking these trends, we should be able to reduce our food waste by around 23%.

• Giving back: we are joining with local charities in our area to provide education around food and food waste. Knowledge is power! 

• Reduce, reduce, reduce: we are working hard in the background to reduce our travel carbon footprint, saving up for an electric van which can be used for all our jobs, and partnering with delivery companies highlighting sustainability.

At Juniper & Co, we are really excited to be ahead of the curve and working in the most amazing sustainable ways possible for a better future. Get in touch today to learn more about our sustainability principles or to enquire into our sustainable catering services.