April update

Infrastructure 

• Food Talent Pathway is offering business, charities, community enterprises or job seekers, training opportunities in food safety, barista and alcohol license training. They also offer free career coaching for unemployed individuals who need support with finding job vacancies, enhancing skills through training, and developing employability skills (for example CV creation or interview prep). The Bristol Good Food 2030 blog continues to publish monthly Good Food Job Updates.

• Nine Food businesses have signed up to WECA’s Good Employment Charter including: BOX-E, Bricks CIO, The Steam Crane Pub, Wiper and True, Tiffins of Bristol and Double Puc café. The charter is a voluntary membership and accreditation scheme aimed to create an active network of employers within the West of England that are committed to supporting the basis of ‘good work’. The Charter promotes seven key benefits of good employment including security, flexibility, wellbeing and development. By making a pledge to meet these standards, participating organisations can become an ‘employer of choice’. 

• Sparks has continued to promote the local, sustainable food economy and Bristol Good Food with a dedicated space for members of the public to share their thoughts and ideas on the Bristol Good Food 2030 plans. Sparks is a department store in the old Marks & Spencer building in Broadmead dedicated to supporting people in Bristol to take easy actions on climate, equality and wellbeing.  

• Bristol City Council has been running a free electric vehicle (EV) hire scheme to enable Bristol organisations to trial the vehicles – to encourage more to switch to cleaner ways of travelling. To date, around 40 food businesses have used the Council’s scheme which closed in March 2024. Overall, the feedback on using the vehicles has been positive, though the initial cost of an EV has been a barrier to some small businesses. Three new charging points sites are expected to be installed in summer 2024.  

Procurement 

• Bristol City Council has made changes to catering procurement processes to embed sustainability. Recent examples include:  

  * Requirements to join the Adult Social Care Framework now include waste minimisation and recycling, meeting the clean air zone (or minimising emissions), and the Bristol Eating Better Award (BEBA) or similar standards for catering facilities. 
  * The Schools Catering Contract requires providers to achieve BEBA Gold standard.
  * Harbourfest and Circus contracts have targets for BEBA and expectations around waste, carbon and travel. 
  * In leisure contracts, leisure centres with a café will be required to meet the council’s BEBA Gold standard. The Leisure Contract includes carbon and waste reduction with ongoing evaluation of BEBA targets. 
  * The Schools Catering Contract, retendered since the introduction of the sustainable procurement policy, includes requirements for waste minimisation and carbon reduction.
  * The Parks Dynamic Purchasing System specifies expectations around BEBA compliance and waste and carbon reduction (it has not gone out to tender yet).  

• The University of Bristol has launched a series of events for businesses and public sector procurers in the region that focusses on local, sustainable procurement and catering. Two events have been held so far with attendees from across business, local authorities, third sector and academia.