Leading live events caterer, Amadeus has had its vegan dishes accredited by the Vegetarian Society across its venue portfolio.
As caterer for the NEC in Birmingham, the business thought it fitting to make the special announcement at the venue’s Just V Show Winter, with venue Executive Chef David Siddall holding a special vegan cooking demonstration at the show, which celebrates vegan, vegetarian and plant-based living.
Amadeus’ full venue portfolio has been audited by the society, including more than 100 dishes and recipes. This provides full traceability of ingredients with the additional use of the Vegetarian Society Approved vegan trademark, giving visitors full confidence that the dishes are suitable for vegan diets.
Venues that Amadeus caters for include the NEC Group venues, including the NEC and ICC Birmingham, Utilita Arena Birmingham, Resorts World Arena and the Vox. It is also being made available for Amadeus regional venues across the UK and its external events business, which caters for a variety of major sporting and corporate events of all sizes.
Marc Frankl, Food and Beverage Director at Amadeus, (pictured right) said, “We’re proud of the latest step in our ambitious sustainability strategy – and what better time to launch than at the NEC’s Just V Show Winter.
“To celebrate our new accreditation, we rolled out some of our favourite vegan-accredited dishes from our Crunch concept at the show, devised by Executive Head Chef at the NEC David Siddall.
“This accreditation from the Vegetarian Society is testament to the hard work of the people in our business, who are extremely passionate about the traceability of the food that we serve. I’d like to give a special shout-out to Vicky Belton from our purchasing team who really helped drive the accreditation forwards.
“Securing the use of the approved trademark means clients and visitors to our venues have full clarity on our offering, making a clear statement about the food we serve. Whether it’s sourcing the finest local ingredients or using state-of-the-art technology to help drive down food waste, we are putting sustainable practices at the forefront of our work across venues, and this is our latest step.”
Amadeus has also more than doubled its vegan offering across venues in the past two years, giving its chefs the tools to innovate in vegetarian and vegan cuisine.
Aaron Johnson-Waters, Amadeus’ Executive Chef at the Vox, (pictured) played a key role in delivering the accreditation, recently introducing a new menu pack for the venue with 45% vegan ingredients.
He enthused, “I’m a proud vegan champion and I was thrilled to be involved in this project. Getting our vegan dishes accredited is testament to how hard our team works on developing our food and beverage offering – we pride ourselves on our quality and service.
“I found that veganism on the whole is such a small part of menu design. It tends to be non-existent, with customers having to request a vegan option, so this is our clear statement and commitment to the development of vegan dishes at our venue.”
Vanessa Brown, Head of Business Services at the Vegetarian Society, noted, “There’s a growing demand for plant-based dishes everywhere and it’s fantastic to see NEC Group's catering meeting the needs of their customers.
“By displaying the Vegetarian Society Approved vegan trademark they are joining a multitude of businesses making a clear statement to their consumers that they can trust these dishes to be vegan.”
Ben Corbett, Event Director at Just V Show Winter, said, “Amadeus has always been an outstanding caterer for our events, tailoring to our audiences seamlessly to provide excellent service.
“It seems fitting that this ground-breaking accreditation of their vegan dishes should launch at our plant-based show, but it’s even more exciting that their work will benefit those seeking vegan food at any event they cater for across all the venues they work with.”
The caterer has also recently introduced a carbon labelling trial at its NEC and ICC venues. With the help of food technology and sustainability specialists Foodsteps, and funding from a study conducted by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).
The trial is assessing the carbon impacts of 1,800 recipes sold at the venues, labelling dishes that are low carbon footprint.
Amadeus caters for seven million visitors a year at the NEC Group’s five world-class venues and more than 30 venues across the UK including visitor attractions, exhibition venues and conference centres.