Food industry sustainable event

No. of delegates: 1,500

Location: Butlins, Bognor Regis

Event type: Conference

Industry: Food delivery

Event objectives:

In 2019, this global team arrived at Butlins in Bognor Regis for a 1 day conference, filled with 25 different workshops, and a World Party celebration later in the evening. As an event created for global attendees, with 1,500 attendees travelling from 13 different countries we were responsible for managing the travel and catering arrangements for this event.

Food waste management:

Our client and the Sustainable Restaurant Association had been working collaboratively since 2017 to drive sustainable behaviour across the food and drink sector. As such, it was of vital importance to our client that the catering of this event was as sustainable as possible. In order to preserve and protect this value, we vetted a series of potential venue suppliers until we found a caterer who could guarantee fresh, healthy and locally sourced food in order to lower the environmental impact of this event. Alongside this, we also limited the volume of meat served to attendees, carefully calculating expected food portions per head in order to minimise food waste. In the rare case that food was wasted, we ensured that all eligible waste was donated to local food waste programmes throughout the region. We also closely monitored food packaging, operating on a zero plastic policy, instead opting for biodegradable containers. Each attendee was supplied with a reusable water container that attendees could refill during the event at the various water stations.

Transport:

With such a large guest list from countries all over the world, we were aware that travel would be the largest carbon creation from this event. To mitigate this, we ensured that group travel options were made available to all guests, as well as creating a carbon offset plan for the combined effect of all flights required. To prevent unnecessary travel to the event, we recorded the content of the main conference sessions and workshops, later sharing these with the delegates. Not only did this make the inspirational content of this conference accessible to all, it reduced the need for attendees to join the event in person, therefore reducing the carbon footprint of the event’s travel arrangements.

Results:

Using the online carbon emissions calculator and the statistics we collected from the event, we were able to calculate the carbon emissions that this World Party produced. With the goal of offsetting this figure, we put forward a selection of carbon offsetting schemes for our client to support including, providing more efficient cooking stoves for women in Kenya, building wind turbines in India and helping farmers in Nicaragua with deforestation.