Contract caterer Host signs deal with Brakes

Brakes will supply Host's 75 contracted units in business & industry, healthcare and education from the end of January, as well as its in-house contract business in healthcare (a further 53 contracts) and the new 16-site, £3m turnover PGL holiday/adventure camps contract that started in November 2009. The caterer has also negotiated a further deal nominating Brakes for fresh butchery, fish, greengrocery, bakery and dairy, but has introduced another supplier for fresh food giving unit managers the option to source locally based produce from supply group e-foods. Host managing director Jerry Brand said: "Giving our unit managers the option of using fresh supplies from e-foods offers them an automatic cost comparison with Brakes. "It's an unusual deal as most contractors will use several suppliers, whereas we've opted for just two. This means that while we've negotiated a favourable deal with Brakes, we have also introduced an element of competition between Brakes and e-foods on fresh produce, so our managers have the choice of buying locally or nationally and with whoever offers the best quality at the best price." This is the first of several new initiatives Host will introduce in 2010, as part of its 'Starter for '10' campaign. Others will include further developments on its e-procurement system 'g-shop' which connects producers and growers with local operators, as well as the completion of its Caternet Club concept which offers unit managers a fully integrated internet-based catering management system for budgeting, menu management, nutritional analysis, e-procurement and subsequent reporting via a single website.