This year’s Top 20 ‘most influential’ people in public sector catering represents the industry’s leading lights based on their ability to represent the concerns of people working in the sector, as well as their capacity to drive change. There is no ranking to the list, all are equal.
Minette Batters
When re-elected in February this year to lead the National Farmers Union (NFU) as its president, Minette Batters pledged its efforts to ‘provide the nation with high-quality, climate-friendly and affordable food for generations to come’.
In this position she represents more than 46,000 farmers across England and Wales. In August she welcomed the public sector catering food and catering consultation from Defra.
Nick Vadis
As culinary director of Compass Group UK and chef ambassador to the NHS Supply Chain, Nick says he is passionate about the training and development of chefs.
He has since taken a key role in developing the Chef’s Academy programme, which invites hospital chefs to take part in free training, live demonstrations and the opportunity to network with peers.
Tanya & Nadim Ednan-Laperouse
The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation (NARF) aims to bring about positive change by focusing on medical research, law and policies to raise allergy awareness.
Tanya and Nadim received the 2022 Industry Recognition Award at the Public Sector Catering Awards for their work in raising awareness of food allergies. They have spoken at the LACA Main Event, twice, the Hospital Caterers Association (HCA) forum and The University Caterers Organisation (TUCO) annual conference.
Chris Packham
He delivered a keynote speech at this year’s Public Sector Catering Expo, looking at the impact of climate change on the environment, wildlife and food system.
Chris has since become an ambassador for ProVeg’s School Plates programme, which helps school caterers to introduce more plant-based options on their lunch menus. ProVeg has made over 6.4m school meals healthier and more sustainable by becoming plant-based.
The final four names will be released tomorrow.