Serco’s in-house catering team at Forth Valley Royal Hospital, in collaboration with Glasgow-based fruit and vegetables suppler, Fáilte Produce and procurement partner e-foods, yesterday marked World Health Day 2016 with a special event in the hospital restaurant to promote the benefits of healthy eating.
Fresh fruit, vegetable and juice samples were given out throughout the day to patients, visitors and employees, along with supporting information on the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle and the chance for a lucky few to win a pineapple corer!
Alastair Bokla, e-foods’ Account Manager said: “Here in Scotland we have access to some of the best quality produce from specialist suppliers. I was delighted to showcase Fáilte’s produce on World Health Day and demonstrate just how easy, and delicious, maintaining a healthy lifestyle can be.”
Fáilte Produce supplies Serco with prepared, fresh fruit and vegetables on a daily basis – within hours of the produce arriving at their warehouse – which are then converted into delicious, healthy meals. Every day, Serco’s catering team produces 3,500 freshly-prepared meals to be enjoyed by patients, visitors and employees.
Anne Davidson, Serco’s Catering Manager at Forth Valley Royal Hospital said: “Serco is very proud of that the fact that 100% of our fresh produce is sourced within 50 miles of the hospital and we are committed to supporting local businesses like Fáilte. The World Health Day event was a huge success and we hope that our efforts will ‘bear fruit’ and encourage more people to eat healthily.”
Last month, Serco pledged to double the total procurement spend across Scotland over the next three years. The company aims to buy in excess of 60% of all its Scottish requirements from Scottish suppliers, as well as double the number of Scottish SMEs from today’s figure of 25% to nearer 50%, meaning that one in every two SME’s will be a Scottish SME supplier.
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