Brakes scores a hat-trick of CSR wins

Brakes added another CSR award to its growing trophy cabinet as it scooped the prestigious Food Redistribution Award at the Waste2Zero awards.

The award recognised Brakes’ herculean effort throughout the pandemic as lockdowns and ‘tiers’ made supply-chain planning all but impossible. The team worked tirelessly with suppliers to minimise surplus food and, where it was unavoidable, joined forces with food redistribution partner, FareShare and local charities to ensure that any leftover food went directly to good causes.

The award comes hot on the heels of winning the Sustainable Supplier of the Year at the 2020 Footprint Awards, for the second consecutive year, and the CSR Award at the Springboard Excellence Awards.

Brakes Merchandising Director, Stuart Smith, who has board responsibility for CSR at Brakes, said: “These awards are testament to how integral CSR is within our business. We’ve always believed that CSR is so much more than a tick box exercise and we leave no stone unturned as we look for ways to deliver a better tomorrow.”

Leading wholesaler wins at both Footprint and Springboard Awards

The 2ZERO20 pledge to remove black plastic packaging initiative, community support programme and waste reduction programmes were among the key reasons that saw Brakes, the UK’s leading foodservice supplier, scoop the Sustainable Supplier of the Year at the 2020 Footprint Awards, for the second consecutive year and the CSR Award at the Springboard Excellence Awards.

Janice Rockwell, CSR lead at Brakes, said: “Winning these prestigious awards highlights how integral CSR has become to our business. Our CSR Council is drawn from across the business and puts the microscope on every aspect of our business as we look to continuously improve what we do.

“While we’ve taken the lead and driven the sustainability agenda through our own initiatives, working in partnership with our suppliers, including packaging, transport and waste, we would welcome the industry working together as that’s how we will gain maximum environmental benefit and create long-term change.”

In alignment with parent company, Sysco, the world’s leading foodservice distributor, Brakes strives to deliver superior products and services to customers in a way that balances the needs of people, products and planet. This approach was central to Brakes’ success at the Footprint and Springboard Awards, with judges recognising initiatives that included:

• Brakes 2ZERO20 campaign, which saw the company remove all hard-to-recycle black plastics from its supply chain, equating to more than 1,000 tonnes a year.
• The roll out of a new refrigeration system to smaller depots, saving 225 tonnes of carbon.
• Becoming the first wholesaler to offer RSPO-accredited palm oil products.
• Initiatives to reduce waste and improve recycling across the business.

Collecting the Footprint award on behalf of Brakes, CSR Council Member, Tori Hickson, said: “All our colleagues will be so proud that we’ve retained this hugely meaningful award, and that in such a difficult year we never reduced our focus on our CSR goals.”