Catering firm teams up with UCC for ‘farm to fork’ initiative

Catering company Kylemore Services Group (KSG), which serves an estimated 12 million meals annually in more than 110 restaurants nationwide, has teamed up with University College Cork (UCC) for a "farm to fork" initiative that sees food grown on the college's campus being served to students.

KSG now hopes to roll out the programme to other clients across Ireland who have additional land to spare and are keen on encouraging healthier eating.

The catering group, whose retail brands include Cafe Kylemore, Quiznos, Coffee Cuisine and Pure Juice Bars, recently partnered with UCC for the initiative which sees fresh vegetables and herbs planted on an eight-acre site being used in a range of dishes in the college's restaurants.

“The main meal of the day is probably the most important one for students, as many are not necessarily getting the best nutritional food available outside of the college environment.

"UCC was very into promoting healthy foods and so, when we found out they had spare land, we asked if there was the possibility of farming it and the college was very keen on the idea," said KSG chief executive Brian Hogan.

Local farmer

KSG is operating the vegetable plot in conjunction with Nigel Martin, a local Curraheen farmer who has assisted with the planting, growing and harvesting of crops – including carrots, turnips, parsnips, beetroot, rosemary, mint and thyme.

As much as 300kg of fresh vegetables is currently being delivered a week to the canteens for use in dishes, with students welcoming the results.

“It is local, sustainable food that tastes great and the students are very excited by the fact we’re doing this,” said Mr Hogan, a former EY Entrepreneur of the Year industry category winner.

“It is no more expensive and may even end up being slightly cheaper than getting vegetables from other sources but while there is not much in the way of cost savings, it is environmentally friendlier and, just as importantly, tastier than what we’ve used before,” he added.

The UCC farm will continue to produce crops for the college’s restaurants until February, when the ground will be ploughed and replanted for the next cycle of growth through spring and summer.

Meanwhile, KSG, which employs close to 1,000 people in Ireland, is keen to see the initiative expand elsewhere.

“We would love to roll this programme out to other universities, and hospitals would also be an ideal location for the ‘farm to fork’ initiative.

“Obviously, there’s a need for any organisation we work with to have spare land available but there are lots of clients who are engaging in green initiatives such as creating herb gardens on their roofs, so it is certainly something we’re interested in following up on,” added Mr Hogan.