Sustainability gets talked about as a catering industry priority. But what does that actually mean for the buyers doing the sourcing?
The Numbers Behind the Shift
A survey of 200 leading catering and facilities management buyers by Oliver Wyman found three clear preferences: 90% want their vendor’s help cutting their carbon footprint, 66% want seasonal menus, and 59% want locally sourced ingredients.
None of that’s niche anymore. It’s what most people sourcing for catering actually want.
From Marketing Line to Screening Question
For a while, catering suppliers could drop ‘we’re sustainable’ into a pitch deck for buyers to agree to. Buyers are now increasingly asking specific, checkable questions:
- How a supplier plans to help cut emissions
- Which seasons drive menu changes
- Where the products are sourced from
- How far it travels before it reaches the kitchen
A catering supplier who can only offer a general sustainability statement, rather than specifics, doesn’t stand out the way it used to — not because buyers are chasing an ethical box-tick, but because lower-emission, seasonal and local sourcing usually also means fresher food, tighter supply chains, and fewer of the delivery and quality issues that come with long, complex sourcing routes.
Why This Matters Beyond the Menu
These might be considered as “nice-to-have” things but the Oliver Wyman’s data suggests otherwise — these are now majority preferences among the buyers, not aspirations held by a vocal minority. For catering buyers managing budgets and reputational risk, sourcing decisions that align with this are also lower-risk decisions: local supply chains are typically shorter and easier to audit, and seasonal menus are usually more cost-stable than menus that lean on imported, out-of-season produce year-round.
What This Looks Like In Practice
Across the sector, sourcing conversations are shifting from general sustainability statements to specific and checkable details. Buyers are asking where key ingredients actually come from, rather than accepting “locally sourced” as a description on its own. They’re noticing whether a catering supplier’s menus genuinely change through the year, or whether “seasonal” is more of a label than a practice. And increasingly, they want to hear, in concrete terms, how a supplier is working to cut carbon emissions across their own operations, rather than pointing to a general sustainability statement.
Suppliers able to speak to this with real specifics are moving further through sourcing conversations. Those who can only offer a general statement don’t carry the same weight anymore — a sign of how mainstream this has become, rather than a passing preference.
Where The Industry Stands
Sustainability in catering sourcing isn’t a future trend to watch — the data suggests that it’s already the majority position among the buyers signing contracts today. Cutting carbon, sourcing locally, and building menus around the seasons have moved from add-ons to a standard part of how sourcing decisions get made.
Do you offer sustainable products or services that catering buyers might be interested in?
Join us at Catering Platform 2027 to connect with buyers.