The award was given for the catering services at Whitgift House, a residential care home in South Croydon.
The Soil Association's Food for Life Catering Mark is an independent catering industry standard which guarantees that food served is freshly prepared, using seasonal, local and organic ingredients, free from additives and GM ingredients, with meat produced to British welfare and quality requirements.
Pride, which currently holds a mixture of bronze, silver and gold Food for Life Catering Marks in a cross-section of other operations, had already proven its commitment to high food quality standards, traceability and provenance before it set a Catering Mark for the care sector in its sights.
Apart from its fresh food ethos, the company only uses free-range chicken and eggs, sustainable seafood, and it never prepares meals with GM ingredients or hydrogenated fats in any of its operations.
Deborah Kenny and Chris Harcus, senior operations manager for Pride and Chef Manager for Whitgift House, set out to make meals for the residents as healthy and nutritious as possible. Deborah Kenny explained: “It’s not always that easy to source everything you want at the price you need to pay but we have persevered and we’ve succeeded. Given the shocking news about the food chain recently, we’re even more convinced that Pride’s food strategy is the right route for better quality food and giving our customers confidence.
“Our meals are free from processed ingredients, trans-fats and undesirable additives and the fresh produce used is British, that is providing it can be physically grown in our climate! Our fresh vegetables are being sourced locally from farms in and around Ashford and free-range meat from a butcher in Lingfield.”
Philomena Kavanagh, head of care at Whitgift House, added: “At Whitgift House we’re committed to the highest standards of care and we feel it’s important to provide healthy and nutritious meals for residents using fresh, locally sourced produce. This award is our guarantee to them.
“Not only are our residents benefitting from a healthier diet, they are also enjoying their food more. We are not going to stop with the Bronze award; plans are already underway to go for Gold!”