Ashlyns Catering achieves Silver Food For Life catering mark

Ashlyns Catering has achieved the prestigious silver Food for Life Catering Mark from the Soil Association for serving fresh, healthy meals to Braintree Community Hospital and St Margarets Hospital in Epping, making them the first hospitals in the UK to gain a silver Catering Mark.

Achieving the award demonstrates that the food served is fresh, healthy and made with carefully sourced local and organic ingredients something patients, visitors and staff will recognise and trust when they see the Catering Mark logo.

The Catering Mark is a unique scheme which recognises restaurants and caterers who serve fresh food which is free from controversial additives and better for animal welfare. The Food for Life Catering Mark offers a guarantee that fresh food you can trust is always on the menu and is open to all types of restaurants and caterers. The bronze, silver and gold tiers offer a step-by-step route to serving more freshly prepared, locally produced, seasonal and organic food. Caterers with the silver Catering Mark use a range of organic and locally produced ingredients.

Ashlyns are committed to sourcing local produce serving free range poultry, Farm Assured beef and potatoes all produced within Essex. Beef, free range pork and vegetables all come from nearby Suffolk and free range eggs are laid in Hertfordshire. When in season soft fruit comes from local growers and all dairy products are organic, whilst tea, coffee and chocolate are either organic or Fair Trade. This all helps support the development of local businesses and provides further benefits to the local and regional economy.

First and foremost Ashlyns are farmers but they are best known for their work within schools since the launch of their Feeding our Future project in 2004, which was set up to help improve school meals and give children an understanding of where their food comes from and how it is produced. At the heart of their ethos is the belief that the majority of dishes on their menus should be made from fresh raw ingredients which are specifically designed to incorporate local seasonal produce. They have a dedicated and experienced team who design the menus to meet the needs of their customers as well as local producers.

Commenting on their achievement, Gary Stokes, Projects Director at Ashlynssaid:

Ashlyns has always strived to source the best quality ingredients to meet ever tightening budgets and were delighted that our commitment to serving fresh, local and organic food has been recognised by achieving the Food for Life silver Catering Mark. We hope our customers will enjoy their meals all the more knowing that they contain a selection of local and organic ingredients.

Explaining the importance of the Catering Mark, Rob Sexton, Chief Executive of Soil Association Certification, said:

” Its brilliant to see Ashlynsgainingrecognition for serving fresh meals made with a range of seasonal, local and organic ingredients, demonstrating that its possible for hospitals to have good food on the menu all of the time.Serving meals which meet the silver Catering Mark standards supports local businesses and reassures customers that meat and dairy products come from farms with higher standards of animal welfare.