Sustainable food procurement in public catering – comparison of the UK with Denmark & Sweden

The research compares sustainable food procurement in public catering in three countries: Denmark, Sweden and the UK. The greatest difference between the UK and the other two countries was the very much higher percentage of organic food in Denmark and Sweden. Within Europe Denmark and Sweden are leaders in organic food consumption – both in the overall market and in public procurement. The rest of Europe – apart from the UK - appears to be going in the same direction. The PhD research examines Denmark and Sweden’s achievements. It shows that Danish local authorities have often measured the percentage of organic food by weight rather than value. This means that the well-publicised achievements of the City of Copenhagen since 2001 in increasing organic food in its public kitchens to 88% are difficult to compare with that of local authorities in other countries which measure organic food by value. The achievements of Sweden in increasing organic food in its public kitchens from 2.5% in 2004 to 38% in 2020 are arguably more impressive but have had less academic recognition and international publicity. As regards procurement arrangements, Sweden is de-centralised with its 290 kommunes buying food singly or in small groupings and with a strong emphasis on local procurement. Denmark by contrast is highly centralised with a single national contract, although there are some local procurement initiatives. In the UK most food procurement is carried out through large city, sub-regional and regional contracts The move to increased cooking from fresh ingredients and seasonal menus has been a common feature of public kitchens in all three countries. Reducing meat has also been a common theme , although in rural parts of Denmark there has been controversy over the absence of vegetarian alternatives. Emphasis on reducing food waste has been very considerable in Sweden, significant in Denmark and rather limited in the UK. There has been much greater emphasis on measuring and reducing carbon footprint in Sweden than in Denmark or the UK. School food quality standards in Denmark and Sweden have improved. In England, by contrast, widespread outsourcing to private caterers has undercut local authority catering organisations and undermined school food quality. In the last two years school food in Scotland has diverged increasingly from England – with no outsourcing, improved quality standards and extra money for universal primary free meals. The research has thrown light on many issues not hitherto covered in academic literature. It proposes a framework for analysing public sector food procurement which could be used to analyse policies in any countr