On Wednesday 12 September, Bunzl Catering Supplies hosted its second Sustainable Future Product Showcase at the Snowdome in Tamworth. Led by Tony Sullivan, Purchasing Director, Bunzl Catering Supplies, and Joanna Gilroy, Head of Sustainability, Bunzl Catering & Hospitality Division, the event carried the theme ‘Material Responsibility’ – and saw the Bunzl Catering Supplies sales teams fully engaged with our partner suppliers to explore what makes a product material responsible and why.

The event was attended by our national and regional sales teams and twelve partner suppliers:

• AmiPak
• Colpac
• Dart Products Europe
• Essity
• Faerch Plast
• Huhtamaki
• Keco
• Klockner Pentaplast
• Plastico
• RPC BPI Recycled
• Sabert
• Sharpak

Attending suppliers were asked to highlight their most material responsible products with viable end-of-life options, and to demonstrate how they operate to reduce environmental impact.

There are multiple factors across a product’s life cycle that have environmental impact and it’s crucial that our sales teams understand these factors, so they can help customers make the most environmentally responsible decisions for their catering operations. The product information that suppliers shared with the sales teams included:

• Country of origin
• Country of manufacture
• Chemical footprint and type of chemicals used
• Water footprint
• Renewable resource
• Carbon footprint

Through a fun and engaging set of supplier stands, attendees had the opportunity to meet suppliers face-to-face in a relaxed environment, to see products first-hand and to take-away samples and marketing collateral to share with our customers.

Speaking about the product showcase Joanna Gilroy said, “This year our Sustainable Future Product Showcase was framed around the theme of material responsibility – and it was a great success! Our suppliers did a fantastic job making sure they met the brief, and our sales teams had a fun and informative day. The event was about building relationships with our partner suppliers, and equipping the sales teams with crucial facts on single-use products to take to our customers, and it certainly achieved both those outcomes.”