PSFPI Case Study

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Achievements and benefits

Groundword for Increased use of Seasonal Produce

Information on the seasonal produce that is available locally, and the price fluctuations of this produce, has been developed for ECS by GFN, with contributions from the steering group. Work to align menus with local growing cycles, balanced with other concerns like nutrition, will be ongoing.

Baseline information

ECS has worked with suppliers to produce baseline information on the volumes and provenance of many produce lines, including fruit, vegetables, and meat. This information is particularly needed by small-scale local suppliers. The improved visibility of the supply chain paves the way for comprehensive analysis of the supply system and improved evidence base for benefits of local sourcing through various methods such as material flow analysis and CO2 emission calculations. It is anticipated that such analysis will strengthen the evidence for the benefits of local sourcing.

Increased local supply

The amount of local produce sourced by ECS is increasing incrementally and is currently estimated at 15% of the total annual expenditure on food of £4.6m. As a definition of ‘local’ ECS state that the food must be grown and produced in the region. The major breakthrough in the time-frame of the project is the successful sourcing of local (non-Halal) meat with the award of the contract to a local catering butcher. The ‘food-miles’ have been reduced dramatically as the previous supply was often from as far away as New Zealand. There are further environmental benefits as much of the frozen meat has been replaced with fresh, and the produce is vacuum-packed which has enabled deliveries to be reduced to once a week and reduced the packaging requirement. A saving of £30,000 on the contract shows that local sourcing can be cost-effective and has enabled an increased spend on other ingredients to improve the quality.

Increased flexibility of contracts

Work to increase flexibility of contracts to enable local supply is ongoing. A key goal is structuring contracts by supply rather than product category, to enable consolidation of processing and delivery. The evaluation model for assessing bids now incorporates sustainable supply chain reducing food miles, freshness and utilisation of seasonal produce in addition to price and quality.

Increased use of fresh produce

An ongoing programme to increase the use of fresh produce, replacing canned, frozen and processed food where possible, is running twin-track with the local sourcing. Training for unit managers in handling fresh produce is underway. The menu offer has been significantly changed. It is becoming evident how increased use of fresh produce has the potential to ‘short-circuit’ lengthy unsustainable supply chains, obviating the need for a lengthy tangle of transportation, packaging, processing, and repeated heating and freezing. Infrastructure development is needed to enable public procurement to capture value locally and contribute to regeneration, with primary processing which does not compromise nutritional value. The shiftfrom frozen and tinned to fresh produce aligns withthe increasing use of seasonal produce.

Nutritional improvements

There have been many developments of ECS’ evolving food and nutritional policy including:

Nutritional analysis and salt reduction;
Menu coding is being investigated to meet FSA (Food Standards Agency) guidelines;
“Food In School” tool kit will be available from September to support schools in developing a whole school approach to food policy;
Increased parental involvement actively encouraged through flyers providing sample menus, information updates and a parents’ forum has been established;
Schools are actively supported in setting up a SCOF (School Committee On Food;
Several organic produce lines have been introduced on a trial basis, some of which are sourced locally including carrots and milk;
Recipes are analysed through a software package to determine nutrient values;
From September menus will be balanced to the requirements of the Caroline Walker Trust macro nutrient standards.

Cost-efficiency

All members of the steering group are long-term advocates of increased investment in school meals. One success story of this project is that, without investment, ECS, with the support of the steering group, has achieved all these improvements within the current cost constraints. A narrow focus on ingredient cost and meal cost per head, as specified by current DfES guidelines, is based on simplistic and inaccurate indicators of meal quality.

Contribution to PSFPI and sustainable public procurement around the UK

ECS has presented the local sourcing work and learned about the approaches of other procurers at PSFPI procurer workshops in Cambridge, Bristol, Birmingham and Devon;
GFN presented the work at the ‘Food and Regeneration’ Conference organised by the Centre for Local Economic Strategies in December 2004;
The work has been written up in case studies by Sustain and East Midlands Public Sector Procurement Strategy;
Ian Smith and Michael Holmes have organised and presented at 4 PSFPI procurer workshops in Yorkshire, are members of the Defra FPIG (Food Procurement Implementation Group) steering group and are working with neighbouring regions including the Government Office for the North East;
ECS contributed to an enquiry into school meal provision in Camden, sharing the expertise in improving nutritional content of school meals and local sourcing within budget constraints.
ECS presentation at Social Enterprise Support Centre local food workshop with buyers and suppliers from the region

Ongoing communication and team-building

An underlying achievement has been the improving understanding between the steering group, which brings together procurer, suppliers, regional statutory bodies, two NGOs (non-governmental organisation) and academic expertise, including through five steering group meetings and 4 ‘task’ meetings. The development of the steering group has helped communication between ECS and the local supply base through networks such as Bradford and Airedale Food Network.

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