Eat to the Beat will support four main areas: Pyramid crew and BBC, Pyramid artists, Other Stage and Aggreko, and provide fresh tasty local food throughout the four-day event, as well as echo the eco-friendly ethos of Glastonbury, which matches its own commitment to reducing environmental impact.
Eat to the Beat’s global operations director Mary Shelley-Smith and her team are responsible for keeping crews and artists fed and refreshed throughout the festival, during the build-up phase and while the site is cleared.
Shelley-Smith commented: “We are committed to reducing our footprint wherever possible. We use locally sourced products, but use the on-site wholesale market for fruit, veg, dairy and so on. We are also very proud to have achieved the internationally recognised standard for the environmental management of business (ISO 14001), which has been awarded to only 1% of UK businesses, as well as ISO 9001 which assesses the quality management systems in place within the business.”
As part of GIG, Eat to the Beat also runs a number of environmentally friendly schemes including a car share initiative and the use of eco-friendly chemical products, and it tries to buy produce with minimal packaging.
Shelley-Smith added: “It is in our interests socially, environmentally and fiscally to reduce our impact because more often than not, positive environmental management practices actually reduce the cost of certain operational strategies. For example, the use of recyclable disposables reduces our staffing and waste water costs. It absolutely makes sense.”