Sodexo Live! Champions Sustainability with Plant-Forward Burgers During Green Football Weekend

Sodexo Live! has partnered with The Devil's Kitchen to introduce a tasty, low-carbon, plant-forward burger at four of its football club clients - Blackburn Rovers, Brighton & Hove Albion, Everton FC and Preston North End - as part of Green Football Weekend (3-5 February).

Green Football Weekend brings together more than 90 top football clubs across the UK, sports broadcasters, leagues, brands, communities and millions of fans to unite for the planet and is a testament to how the power of sport can bring positive environmental change.

The Shiitake Mushroom Burger, a low-carbon meal option, showcases the commitment of Sodexo Live! to sustainability. Producing only 0.5kg of CO2e, this burger is a substantial improvement over the average CO2e per meal in the UK, which stands at 1.6kg of CO2e.

Crafted for both taste and sustainability, the Devil's Kitchen Shiitake mushroom burger features a toasted La Boulangerie vegan brioche style bun, vegan Applewood cheese slices, a mix of exotic marinated and seasoned mushrooms and plant-based garlic mayonnaise.

Burgers continue to be one of the most popular choices on menus and the Shiitake Mushroom burger now allows supporters to have an equally flavoursome snack using plant-based, low-carbon ingredients on match days.

The venues also offer alternative meat-free options, including vegetarian pies, with all ingredients sourced locally where possible.

Ben Dutson, Food Innovation Director, at Sodexo Live! UK & Ireland, which provides catering and hospitality at nine UK stadia, said: 'Sodexo Live! is resolute in its commitment to ensuring 70% of main dishes on our menus can be labelled ‘low-carbon’ by 2030, and that food waste is reduced by 50% by 2025.

“While we know there is a lot more everyone can do in this space, the Green Football Weekend is a perfect opportunity to show our customers that our low carbon and plant-based meals can be interesting and tasty, and we are proud to support this great initiative.”

Sarah Jacobs, Director of Green Football Weekend, said: “Food is an important contributor to the overall climate impact of football. Choosing a veggie alternative in the ground is a simple way to help address the climate crisis, and can have significant impact if you make it a habit.

“If the UK’s football fans ate one veggie meal a day, it would save as much carbon as taking 5.5 million cars off the road. We are delighted to be working with Sodexo Live! to help protect our world as part of Green Football Weekend.”

Sodexo Live! aims to feature 33% plant-based meals on its menus by 2025 as it moves steadfastly towards its goal of net zero by 2040.

By introducing the plant forward burgers, Sodexo Live! invites football fans to boost their nutrition and contribute to reducing carbon pollution.

This announcement follows the recent launch of Sodexo’s first annual Sustainable Food Barometer, that highlights 73% of the UK believe adopting a more sustainable way of eating is now urgent.