Ontario Tech University
OP-7: Food and Beverage Purchasing

ARAMARK: Across the globe there is a growing awareness of what it means to eat sustainably, and an understanding that food matters - to our own health, as well as the health of our communities, our environment and our planet. Throughout our dining services, we are committed to provide foods that are produced and procured in an ecologically, environmentally and socially responsible manner, and are partnering with many different growers, producers, suppliers and distributors to increase the availability of such foods. Initiatives - 4 key Areas: Purchasing and providing: -Locally Grown Food -Sustainably Grown and Raised Food -Sustainable Fish and Seafood -Socially Responsible Products Some of the seafood purchased is certified under: Oceanwise, Marine Stewardship council, Best Aquaculture Practices Initiatives – Examples “I eat local” Local Produce Purchasing Programs (by province / region) Partnering with growers and distributors Canada wide Promoting local with “Locally Grown” identifiers and seasonal menu features Local dairy products and shell eggs served provincially Canadian Raised Purchase / Promotion of Canadian raised protein items “I eat sustainable” -Sustainable Seafood Purchasing Program under development -Partnering with SeaChoice Canada -Converting key seafood purchases to ocean friendly ecologically sustainable alternatives as per Canada’s Seafood Guide -Sustainably Grown / Raised -Expanding purchasing programs and availability of organic, naturally raised, pasture raised / grass fed, and cage free items. “I woke up” Organic Fair Trade and Rain Forest Alliance Certified Organic Fair Trade and Rain Forest Alliance Certified coffee selections offered and promoted throughout our coffee concepts Annual donation and support of Coffee Kids program - www.coffeekids.org

Aramark has a sophisticated product tracking system which allows us to report virtually every purchase made by our campus team over a given period of time. Whenever we require information on procurement patterns reports can be generated detailing purchase volumes and total spend for any particular item, anywhere in the country. We are currently in the process of building more capabilities into the system and one of the more useful features is the addition of source and processing location data attached to every item in the database. We are working very closely with food suppliers of all types and sizes to acquire this info and make it readily available. Progress in purchasing habits with respect to sustainability and the support of local producers cannot occur without a reliable benchmark. Learning more about how and where the food we buy is grown, raised and packaged will allow us to create such a benchmark and proceed to important next step of setting targets for improvement.