Problems can arise when offering food at a meeting; more often than not you hear the rustling of food wrappers and noisy munching over the actual proceedings. Heavy lunches can also impact concentration; when you realise you are on your second coffee of the afternoon, still struggling to fight the effects of an early start – it is time to change something. With this in mind, the Sodexo Prestige Venues and Events culinary team are focusing on how foods can be used to assist in achieving client goals. Their primary aim was to create environments and dishes that stimulate and promote healthy working.
The talented chefs at Sodexo are working on refining the classics and producing a ‘food for thought’ menu to accompany day delegate packages. The conception of the ‘silent snacking’ concept, has further helped to improve meetings and conferences by minimising the distractions of packaging noise. This means that organisers will have the ability to serve ‘quiet’ foods and fresh options, rather than high sugar snacks, all presented in biodegradable lunch boxes.
Inspiration for the menus comes from Sodexo’s existing extensive conference knowledge and by analysing the catering experience as a whole. The Sodexo team recognised the common catering cliché - providing pastries for mid-morning snacks, pies or burgers for lunch followed by scones in the mid-afternoon, and have worked hard to remedy this.
The day delegate packages begin with a healthy breakfast packed with many B, D and E vitamins, which allow the team to help clients improve memory and cognitive function. By offering the right balance of protein, complex carbohydrates and good fats, and minimising sugars, the food offer helps to maintain energy levels, improve focus, stabilise blood sugar, prevent fatigue and improve alertness in meetings.
These principles are integrated throughout the catering day, with the lunch menu offering a variety of highly nutritional options for the clients. As for snacks, dark chocolate is served to boost alertness through providing natural caffeine, alongside ingredients like coconut milk to maintain hydration and increase attention span.
Tom Beauchamp, Head Chef at Sodexo Prestige Venues and Events said “we have created a full-day offering which we hope will improve mood and engagement. Ultimately, we want to help our clients achieve more form holding events in our venues.”
Example Menu
Breakfast
Porridge bars with nuts, seeds, dark chocolate, dried cranberry and raisins.
Super green smoothie with kale, wheatgrass, flax seed, blueberries.
Mid-morning Snacks
Chia and coconut pudding with dried fruit and cinnamon.
Fresh fruit.
Lunch
Grilled fillets of mackerel, spiced chick peas and wilted baby spinach (Hot).
Roasted chicken fillet with avocado, wild rice and Bois boudran sauce.
Griddled tofu, mixed grain rainbow red and white quinoa, wild rice, bulgar wheat and mixed crunchy vegetables in asoy and yuzu dressing (V).
Afternoon Snacks
Savoury popcorn.
Protein power balls.
Our ‘food for thought’ and similar menus are available across several of our venues, including AMEX Community Stadium and The Assembly Rooms. Contact The Hub to find out more....
Problems can arise when offering food at a meeting; more often than not you hear the rustling of food wrappers and noisy munching over the actual proceedings. Heavy lunches can also impact concentration; when you realise you are on your second coffee of the afternoon, still struggling to fight the effects of an early start – it is time to change something. With this in mind, the Sodexo Prestige Venues and Events culinary team are focusing on how foods can be used to assist in achieving client goals. Their primary aim was to create environments and dishes that stimulate and promote healthy working.
The talented chefs at Sodexo are working on refining the classics and producing a ‘food for thought’ menu to accompany day delegate packages. The conception of the ‘silent snacking’ concept, has further helped to improve meetings and conferences by minimising the distractions of packaging noise. This means that organisers will have the ability to serve ‘quiet’ foods and fresh options, rather than high sugar snacks, all presented in biodegradable lunch boxes.
Inspiration for the menus comes from Sodexo’s existing extensive conference knowledge and by analysing the catering experience as a whole. The Sodexo team recognised the common catering cliché - providing pastries for mid-morning snacks, pies or burgers for lunch followed by scones in the mid-afternoon, and have worked hard to remedy this.
The day delegate packages begin with a healthy breakfast packed with many B, D and E vitamins, which allow the team to help clients improve memory and cognitive function. By offering the right balance of protein, complex carbohydrates and good fats, and minimising sugars, the food offer helps to maintain energy levels, improve focus, stabilise blood sugar, prevent fatigue and improve alertness in meetings.
These principles are integrated throughout the catering day, with the lunch menu offering a variety of highly nutritional options for the clients. As for snacks, dark chocolate is served to boost alertness through providing natural caffeine, alongside ingredients like coconut milk to maintain hydration and increase attention span.
Tom Beauchamp, Head Chef at Sodexo Prestige Venues and Events said “we have created a full-day offering which we hope will improve mood and engagement. Ultimately, we want to help our clients achieve more form holding events in our venues.”
Example Menu
Breakfast
Porridge bars with nuts, seeds, dark chocolate, dried cranberry and raisins.
Super green smoothie with kale, wheatgrass, flax seed, blueberries.
Mid-morning Snacks
Chia and coconut pudding with dried fruit and cinnamon.
Fresh fruit.
Lunch
Grilled fillets of mackerel, spiced chick peas and wilted baby spinach (Hot).
Roasted chicken fillet with avocado, wild rice and Bois boudran sauce.
Griddled tofu, mixed grain rainbow red and white quinoa, wild rice, bulgar wheat and mixed crunchy vegetables in asoy and yuzu dressing (V).
Afternoon Snacks
Savoury popcorn.
Protein power balls.
Our ‘food for thought’ and similar menus are available across several of our venues, including AMEX Community Stadium and The Assembly Rooms. Contact The Hub to find out more.
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