A round-up of the latest news from the contract catering sector...
Compass to recycle cooking oil as diesel
Compass Group UK & Ireland is to have all the waste oil produced by its outlets turned into environmentally friendly biodfuels by 1 January 2004. About 2,500 tonnes of waste cooking oil will be processed into biodiesel, and some of it could then be used in Compass's own delivery fleet. The oil was previously sold into the animal feed market, but this is being banned from next October.
College contract boost for Sodexho
Sodexho has retained its contract at the Community College Shoreditch in east London, which it has held for seven years. The catering contract previously turned over £340,000 a year but several services have now been added, including grounds maintenance, security and waste management. The new three-year deal will turn over about £1.8m a year and includes an option to extend by a further two years.
Scolarest adds four-year college deal
Scolarest, Compass Group's education division, has won a four-year extension to its contract with Glenalmond College, an independent boarding school in Scotland. The new deal will turn over nearly £2.5m over the four years. It covers a range of catering services, from the serving of breakfast, lunch and dinner for about 600 pupils and staff, to hospitality packages for sports days and other events. Scolarest has also refurbished the school's dining hall counters.
Sodexho and Edelmann launch new restaurant
Sodexho's restaurant at the Dolphin Square Hotel in London has reopened under the name Allium, with chef-patron Anton Edelmann overseeing operations. Peter Woods, formerly of the Belvedere restaurant in London's Holland Park, is head chef. Edelmann joined Sodexho in May as principal chef for the contractor's fine-dining division, Directors Table. The Dolphin Square restaurant was formerly Rhodes on the Square, part of Sodexho's joint venture with chef-restaurateur Gary Rhodes.
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