Royal Berkshire Conference Centre (RBCC) and official catering partner, Levy UK have been awarded a ‘Food for the Brain’ catering accreditation for their commitment to nutrition and wellbeing and achieving high standards of nutritional excellence in their food offering.
Food for the Brain is an educational charity promoting the importance of nutrition and recognises the food produced by Levy UK at RBCC, which has been devised to deliver well-balanced nutrition and encourages a healthy outlook on items consumed and available to delegates.
This followed Levy UK’s overhaul and re-design of the food and drink offering at RBCC, led by the introduction of new Mindful Meeting Packages.
The packages have been designed to be mindful of the health and wellbeing of guests and the planet. Created using brain foods to keep delegates alert all day, the mindful menus remove unnecessary and hidden sugars, and are created using the whole ingredient to further reduce food waste and the impact on the environment.
Items in the new packages include tackle food waste mini muffins and tackle food waste granola bars – both made using tasty elements of fruit which would otherwise be wasted (for example orange rind). Seasonal fruit pick ‘n’ mixes and fruit infused hydration stations are also available to delegates throughout the day.
Kevin Berry, General Manager of RBCC, commented, “Offering healthier, better balanced menus, and ensuring varied and plentiful hydration options will increase delegates alertness and attention span. Our role through food is to help visitors get more out of their day, in-turn giving an improved ROI to conference organisers.
“Additionally, we wanted to provide menus in-line with those that individuals might chose to order from the high street and to give more colour and flavour sensations. We’ve already had great feedback from clients and the menus have been instrumental in winning new business.”
Jon Davies, Managing Director for Levy UK, added, “We are keen to help bring an end to an era of beige, sugar-loaded and bread-dominated food at conferences and events – we believe that fresh, visually-simulating and healthier options can directly impact on a delegate’s experience and engagement at an event.
“The health and wellbeing of our guests is important to us and helping people make informed choices is a vital part of what we do as a business. Too often conferences have provided carb-heavy lunches fuelling delegates with temporary sugar highs in the mid-morning and mid-afternoon sessions. A more scientific, healthier approach across the day using more complex carbs that offer a slower and lower sugar release makes much more sense.”
Jenna Mosimann, Chief Executive, Food for the Brain Foundation, said, “Food for the Brain is delighted to award Royal Berkshire Conference Centre and official catering partner Levy UK our accreditation. We recognise that RBCC offer nutritionally well-balanced menus which support energy, concentration and performance.
“Food for the Brain believe that foodservice organisations have an important role to play in making sure that choosing foods of a high nutritional quality is both appealing and easy.
“The accreditation shows Levy UK not only offer a high standard of nutritionally balanced food but also provide supportive employee training and communications to sustain a culture of nutritional awareness.”