Ms. Broscheit, how does sustainability issue into Audi gastronomy providers’ orientation?
Victoria Broscheit: Our objective at Audi is sustainable administration – and we want to contribute to that in gastronomy providers as effectively. Even past firm catering, gastronomy as a entire wants to be greener. We can make a noticeable contribution by taking a aware method to meals. For occasion, meat consumption is a main issue. At Audi, we nonetheless provide meat, because the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ernährung (DGE, German Association for Nutrition) recommends, however not in the quantities that had been widespread for a very long time.
How can the thought of wholesome meals be anchored in worker catering for the long run?
We want to make it simpler for folks to make a good choice for themselves. That’s why we put a lot of inventory in vitamin and well being and regard firm meals tradition as an expression of esteem for our staff. Incidentally, that’s not simply completely a matter of meals consumption. Company gastronomy providers additionally helps communication, networking, and interpersonal exchanges. For that, we’d like to create further and new choices. Moreover, regionality, natural high quality, and discount of our carbon emissions are additionally amongst our strategic pillars.
One of essentially the most controversial measures for enhancing sustainability in worker catering is veggie day in the cafeterias.
We’ve additionally launched a meat-free Monday – one Monday per thirty days after we solely provide meat-free meals in the corporate cafeterias. That’s not one thing that we enacted with out dialogue, after all. But that’s exactly what we want: a aware examination of our vitamin. The essential issue is that actions like this are embedded in a holistic technique.
What does that technique seem like for Audi gastronomy providers?
We have our eye on all the worth chain. That begins with buying. We make certain that almost all of our merchandise are domestically produced. That is a problem, on condition that we had been producing up to 20,000 meals a day earlier than the coronavirus. We select our suppliers very intentionally and we additionally provide our producers safety via buying ensures. That’s as a result of we perceive clearly that larger requirements additionally price cash. One instance is the European Chicken Commitment, which we not too long ago joined and thru which we’re committing to shopping for solely rooster that adheres to animal welfare standards that transcend the minimal authorized requirements beginning no later than 2026. Additionally, we largely purchase our merchandise regionally and, the place fruit and greens are involved, seasonally. For occasion, you gained’t get a salad with avocado from us as a result of avocados normally have to be imported from abroad and cultivating them requires a particularly excessive quantity of water. Forgoing merchandise like these additionally represents the needs of most of our staff: we carried out a pilot take a look at in the summer time of 2021 that made the carbon footprint of our meals extra clear. That was so effectively obtained amongst our visitors that we’ll now point out the carbon footprint of meals on our menus usually.
Avocados are a distinguished instance of rising shopper consciousness. Are you seeing that staff have completely different expectations of firm catering than they did a few years in the past?
Yes, we’re seeing a shift in demand. Today we’re distributing 66 % extra vegetarian and vegan meals than we did two years in the past. We frequently modify our choices accordingly. In 2025, we anticipate at the least half of the meals to be vegetarian and vegan. A current worker survey additionally confirms the pattern: it confirmed staff’ primary want is for our choices to be greener and more healthy. That is one thing that we see repeatedly: after we serve good vegetarian dishes, now we have the identical demand as after we serve meals with meat in it. So now we have made “green” choices a everlasting a part of our menus. Incidentally, the DGE additionally recommends consuming not more than 300 to 600 grams (0.66 to 1.32 kilos) of meat per week.
Employees and potential candidates more and more assess an employer by the values that the corporate represents. How does firm catering issue into that?
It will play an more and more necessary position. That applies not solely to the culinary choices on provide, but additionally to the areas the place folks spend their breaks or meet to work together with different folks. In Ingolstadt, we not too long ago established the primary work lounges. People can meet there, work collectively, and be artistic. In the long run, folks will come to the workplace primarily to discuss to different folks and we’re creating areas for that. In that sense, we’re implementing new spacial ideas in our firm cafeterias, like seating cubicles. Because of the pandemic and the adjustments to our work habits, the office is turning into more and more necessary as a place that brings staff collectively and bolsters a sense of neighborhood. Recently, we provide our staff out of doors seating as effectively in order that they’ll spend their breaks in the contemporary air.
The pandemic is altering not solely our every day work routines, but additionally our dietary habits. Are you responding to that?
One very concrete measure has beens our supply service, which we launched again in February 2021. Since then, staff have been ready to order from menus ready for themselves and their households for house supply. They come in returnable glass containers or biodegradable bagasse packing containers. We additionally assist dietary training. For instance, we’ve organized shows on wholesome consuming in the house workplace. Our cooks from Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm give suggestions, for instance, about how folks can take easy steps to refine comfort merchandise into wholesome meals.
What are you doing to keep away from meals waste?
There are many issues. One has to do with angle: a dish can run out earlier than business hours are over. Plenty of meals waste is created in gastronomy providers due to overproduction. We have a lot of leverage right here. Another is extra exact planning, which we’re additionally ready to do higher and higher with the assistance of prognostic information. And for the waste that we nonetheless can’t keep away from, we search for essentially the most wise means to use it. For occasion, we’re engaged on a challenge in which meals waste is dehydrated, composted, and delivered to a biogas plant.
Packaging waste, notably plastic waste, can also be in the general public eye. What is Audi’s contribution in that space?
That’s a query that raises two matters. One is the packaging in which merchandise are delivered to us. We are in shut contact with our suppliers about that and set up multi-use methods wherever that’s possible or have merchandise delivered unfastened. The different is the query of how we distribute our meals to the staff. We management that ourselves, so we have launched a few adjustments. For occasion, for the reason that fall of 2020, now we have disbursed takeout merchandise completely in packaging comprised of bagasse – a compostable materials that’s a byproduct of sugar cane processing – and kraft paper in addition to bioplastics comprised of renewable uncooked supplies. We additionally assist re-use. In Ingolstadt, now we have established a complete multi-use system from Vytal and in Neckarsulm we’re testing one other vendor. You gained’t discover any plastic in our packaging or takeout utensils anymore. Those are a lot of small steps. Taken altogether, they permit us to have a large impact – amongst our staff and past.
Personal data
As head of Audi’s gastronomy providers since mid-2020, Victoria Broscheit is accountable for firm cafeterias, self-service markets, and catering on the Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm places. One point of interest of her work is strategic and sustainable improvement of gastronomic choices for workers.
Victoria Broscheit is already acquainted to AUDI AG from her work in a big selection of fields, together with gross sales, company technique, and logistics, which she ran upon becoming a member of the corporate in 2004. With her diploma in business administration, she was in cost of pilot manufacturing program planning and infrastructure providers, amongst different issues, earlier than turning into the top of Audi meals providers.
