14 October 2008
Mount Charles commiting to sustainability
How company is commiting to sustainability - Newsletter 14th October 08
Local catering specialists Mount Charles have completed a revamp of their procurement process and elivery network, which has resulted in the number of vehicles servicing their outlets reducing by two thirds. In pursuing the company's corporate responsibility policy, the impact of this review has significantly reduced Mount Charles' carbon foortprint, resulting in improvements for local communities, as a consequence of lower traffic movements.
This initative came ouf or a process involving the consolidation of Mount Charles suppliers.
The catering speciailist, who employ almost 1000 staff throughout Northern Ireland were determined to set sustainability targets relating to procurement, and it was recognised that only companies committed to green issues were likely to feature in the final decisions.
Follwing an exhaustive selection process Crossgar Food Service, North Down Group and Henderson's Food Service were selected as the companies to drive this initiative forward. But keeping with the Mount Charles local souring ethos, these three suppliers have had to engage with other locally-based suppliers to ensure a full range of produce was avaiable to satisfy Mount Charles requirements.
Trevor Annon, Managing Director, Mount Charles said "We at Mount Charles recognised that our environmental commitments had to amount to more than a mission statement. That his why right back at the tender process, we set the specification high. But in our position as a local family owned business oursleves, we couldn't allow our procurement process to suffocate local producers and growers. Although this system has consolidated our delivery schedules, our suppliers now work in partnership with local producers and growers to ensure the maximum volume of local produce is used within Mount Charles business.
This, along with our intregrated invoicing system, has an obvious impact in environmental terms but it also resulted in reduced costs as a consequence of our suppliers improving their productivity and reducing delivery costs. This has allowed us to control costs with a very competitive market without sacrificing quality to our customers".
Responsible for all Mount Charles fruit and vegetable, diary and speciality bread requirements, North Down Foods' Paul Ritchie said "This was a massive commitment but we are fully up and running. It is a culmination of over a year's planning between ourselves, Mount Charles and other partners".
Damien Barrett of Henderson Food Service, who supply all dried, frozen and ambient products, said "It is very rewarding to see that with a sustained effort and commitment in the planning stage, we can take sensible steps to deliver more sustainable business practices".
Crossgar Food Service director Michael Morrisey said "The fact we have our own onsite butchery means we can produce goods to exacting standard required by Mount Charles, and ensure they are delivered fresh to all Mount Charles units within the shortest possible lead time".
