The Soil Association’s Gold Food for Life Catering Mark was given to Encore, the external contract catering business of Cordia, the arm’s-length company formed by Glasgow City Council to run its frontline services.
Encore has achieved the Award for the 50,500 meals they serve every year at the Emirates Arena Café.
The Emirates Arena is the first leisure facility in the UK to hold the Gold Catering Mark.
The award was presented by Laura Stewart, Director, Soil Association Scotland, at the AGM and Annual Conference of Scotland Food and Drink, fittingly held at the Emirates Arena.
The Emirates Arena Café serves an average of 140 meals daily, which equates to more than 50,500 every year.
Ross McKenzie, Encore’s commercial operations manager at the Emirates Arena, said: “It’s marvellous that our commitment to serving fresh, local and organic food has been recognised like this. We are proud of the work of our catering manager Brian Martin, head chef Ross Welch and their team, who have taken on the Soil Association’s Food for Life challenge with a determination that wouldn’t let them stop until they’d reached the Gold level.”
Soil Association Scotland director Laura Stewart added: “Encore is leading the way at the Emirates Arena as the only leisure facility in the UK to hold the Gold Food for Life Catering Mark. It is testament to the Encore team’s hard work and commitment to providing more fresh, local and organic food and to driving excellence in catering in Scotland’s tourism and leisure industry.”