Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:04] Speaker B: Welcome to the Talking Food with Bidfood podcast. I'm Heather, nutrition manager at Bidfood and your host for today.
In this episode, I'll be talking all things nutrition with Lizzie Foskett, who is Head of Nutrition and ESG at Baxter Story, the UK's largest independent hospitality provider, catering over 900 locations across multiple sectors.
I hope you're as excited as I am to hear more about what Lizzie is doing in the nutrition space and how her work supports people's health and well being. Welcome to the podcast, Lizzy. It's great to have you. Could you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your background?
[00:00:43] Speaker A: Hi, Heather, it's great to be here today. Thanks for having me on. I'm registered nutritionist and head up nutrition and ESG for Bex's Story. We've got a lot of exciting stuff going on. I'm looking forward to diving into that a bit later.
I've been a registered nutritionist now for nearly 10 years and the work that the association for Nutrition do is great in supporting us with everything we do. I've been in a couple of roles but now been with Baxter Story for nearly four years and it's the one that's given me the scope to really impact people on a wide scale. So, looking forward to chatting about that a bit later.
Perfect.
[00:01:12] Speaker B: Yeah, looking forward to chatting about that too. And just for anyone who might not be familiar. So registered nutritionists are qualified nutrition professionals who meet the standards set out by the association for Nutrition, like Lizzie mentioned. So I'm a registered nutritionist myself and essentially we provide evidence based advice on food and nutrition, but we have to adhere to strict code of conduct and keep our knowledge up to date with the latest research and guidelines.
Lizzie, I want to get into your role at Baxter Story a bit more. Could you tell us about your current focus and and any projects you've been working on?
[00:01:50] Speaker A: Absolutely. So I am very lucky to sit in the UK food and beverage team working with a variety of chefs, our Head of beverage and a really big team of great people that really help us to get our word out there. At the moment at Backsto Story, we're on a really big sustainable nutrition mission and for us, that's making sure that sustainability and nutrition are always at the forefront of everything we're doing.
We believe that we're onto something special here and hopefully tackling the two together will ensure that we really have the biggest big impact in this area.
[00:02:18] Speaker B: That sounds amazing, Lizzy. I love that you are tackling both sustainability and Nutrition together. And what about any specific projects that you've been working on?
[00:02:27] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a great question, Heather, actually. And before I just dive deeper into the projects, it's good to touch on the fact that we're really focusing on the education of our teams when it comes to back of house. Front of house, everyone in the kitchen and everyone across. Back to story. The world of sustainability and nutrition are two large areas and we want to make sure that our teams are equipped and empowered and really excited to help us tackle this. So you might have seen recently we've just released that we have got a three day sustainable nutrition course that's for all of our teams across Baxter Story and that again has been accredited by the association for Nutrition, who we mentioned earlier. This helps us to tackle many of the projects that we're working on. And I thought it would be good today to mention the Beans is How campaign.
That's a global campaign that is run by a great group of people that we're part of. We the first in the industry to sign up and we have said that we would like to double our bean and pulse consumption and purchasing by 2028, which is also the owner. Beans is how it's been great so far and we're working really closely with our chef partner, Bettina on this. We've done some great work, but also got some really good work coming up, which you'll see as the months go on.
[00:03:26] Speaker B: I love that and I can't help but laugh a little bit because in my role to the chefs at Bid Food, they are always saying I'm like a broken record saying, can we put more beans in? Can we put more lentils into recipes?
So when they listen to this, hopefully they'll see that not the only one who thinks that beans are great and really underrated food from a nutrition perspective.
So I love the sound of that, Lizzie. And what's the response been to the campaign so far? Can you share any results with us?
[00:03:55] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. It's great to hear that you're on the same sort of mission and we have the same chefs are really excited by what they can do by them now and they've realized the scope and the variety of beans that are out there and also the amazing products you can make from sort of breakfast through to snacks through to dinner. So we've seen a real impact within the campaign. We've targeted our chefs teams, front of house teams to see just where they can get beans onto the menu and just expand it and really have some fun with it. So we look, they look at their craft and their creativity when it comes to this to see how they can expand, how they're being used. We have already seen an increase across the whole of Bak's story in the number of beans and pulses we're using. And this, again, this is just carrying on climbing with. And with the work that we're linking in with our whole sustainable nutrition campaign, we hope this is only going to continue to rise.
[00:04:38] Speaker B: That's brilliant. And what about uptakes? Do you have any information on that? Are the dishes with more beans going down well with consumers?
[00:04:46] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. So I think you always have a bit of a mixture to this. You have some people being a bit more apprehensive, some people really diving in, but we're definitely seeing because not only in back to Story, but like you say yourselves, and lots of people in this area are talking about beans and there's a lot of work going on. Customers are really wanting to know more.
So if we empower our teams to be able to talk to the customers about the power of beans, what they're doing in their dishes, why they're good for the people and why they're good for the planet, we're really seeing customers want to try them and come on the journey with us. Yes. Not everyone may be as eager as some, but it's definitely increasing.
[00:05:19] Speaker B: Yeah, no, that's great. It's really encouraging to hear, like a real life example of a business being bold and putting nourishing dishes out there, adding more beans to the menus.
And I love the education piece as well, investing in your workforce. And then they become advocates for the dishes as well, and they can chat with customers and get them on board. That's amazing.
[00:05:41] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think like you said, if we're all. We're all striving for the same thing at the moment. You guys, us. And there's so many people in the industry that are all on the same mission, the words out there. So it can only get better.
[00:06:00] Speaker B: So, Lizzy, as you and I both know, healthy is quite an ambiguous term. There's no one definition and it can mean very different things to different people.
And in the food service industry, in our roles, we are serving a lot of different sectors with different consumers who have different requirements and preferences, so we have to be mindful of that. But I'm intrigued to ask you what healthy means to you as a registered nutritionist and if you have any examples of how you apply this in your role, that would be great.
[00:06:28] Speaker A: I think this is A great question. I get asked it a lot. And Heather, you've probably had some of those same conversations where people say, oh, you're a nutritionist, you probably only eat this and drink that. And actually, I think it's such a wrong way to look at it. So personally, I'm within the work I do at Back to Story. I think the word healthy needs to be really looked at carefully. I think we need to get a much more holistic view when it comes to the word healthy. And I always like to go for something like nourishing or wholesome or. Now that's why we're looking at sustainable nutrition together, because there's so many different aspects to it from what's it doing to the planet, what's it doing to us, Is it accessible to all? There's so many different areas we'd look in. I understand healthy and the term healthy has a place sometimes, but I think like you say, when we're feeding so many different groups of people, for me it's really making sure we're taking lots of different areas into account and also not just labeling one area healthy or one counter healthy. We really try to make sure that all the food and drink that we're serving has that sustainable nutrition message in mind. And you can still enjoy, say, a homemade brownie. But what's been. What ingredients has it been made with? What supplies are you using?
So we do try and avoid the word healthy. And then always there to have a conversation with people that want the healthier option and be able to discuss this with them in more detail.
[00:07:39] Speaker B: Yeah, I think that's a great way of approaching it. I do prefer myself the more like positive angle, like the whole positive nutrition concept, where it's more about what we can add in rather than just solely focusing on perhaps limiting nutrients like fat, sugar and salt. So that holistic view is really nice, for sure.
And for businesses, Lizzie, who perhaps don't employ a registered nutritionist or they don't know where to start with perhaps making their menus and recipes, I won't say healthier, but perhaps improving the nutritional content, they're thinking about what they can add in. Do you have any tips on where they could start?
[00:08:19] Speaker A: Absolutely. I love what you've just said there about not always looking at what to take out when it comes to that wholesome, nutritious diet of food and drink.
Make it fun and look what you can add in. Yes. So there's lots of people out there now, I think, in this world with a registered nutritionist, but also lots of them without. And I think the biggest thing here is to work out what you can do from that holistic viewpoint that we've spoken about already. Not over complicating it and also making sure that there's options for everyone.
The other thing that it comes to.
[00:08:46] Speaker B: When you are working with a registered.
[00:08:47] Speaker A: Nutritionist, when you're not, is you've got to be careful when it comes to what health claims and what nutrition claims you're making. We all need to make sure we're following the same rules out there so you don't go down the path of misleading customers or also over complicating things that customers just don't know what choice to make. So I'm all about really making it easy for that customer to come in, see what the choices are and help them make the right decision, but also still giving them the choice.
I think another area when it comes to not having a nutritionist working with you is there's the lovely world of Instagram and TikTok and social media and just general nutrition and health news that comes out at the moment. And I think if you don't have a registered nutritionist working with you, it's looking to see who you can reach out to to make sure the information you are using is correct, has been accredited and is the right stuff to be then using for your customers as well. And I suppose ideally you, you would have that nutritionist working with you to help you lead you in the right direction.
[00:09:40] Speaker B: Yeah, definitely. I think that's a really good point around social media because I know there was a study done recently looking at this sort of accuracy of nutrition and health information on social media platforms. And the level of misinformation out there is quite scary, really. Like we were explaining earlier what a registered nutritionist is, perhaps if businesses can be mindful to follow registered nutritionists or registered dietitians, those sort of trusted professionals, then they can feel more confident that the information they're receiving is evidence based. And yeah, I like what you said about not overcomplicating it because I think it's very easy to do that sometimes.
Starting with the diversity piece, say, so what can we add in? Is there a variety of fruit, vegetables like beans and pulses, nuts and seeds is a really nice place to start.
And would you be able to explain just briefly what a nutrition and health claim is that you mentioned a moment ago, just so people are aware?
[00:10:37] Speaker A: Absolutely. So there's the world of nutrition claims and health claims and that comes to. If you're stating something might be High in protein, high in. High in fat, high in salt. And there's different regulations that have been set out that we all follow. So we are all on the same page when it comes to is it right to make this claim? And it really also fits in with health and safety as well. So they've all been looked at to make sure when we are making a health and nutrition claim, you are using the right guidelines. You don't want to state that something's high in protein or a source of protein if it's not actually fitting those guidelines. They can be found on the AFM website or the British Nutrition foundation website if anyone ever wants to have a look into that. But all the work that nutritionists do will always follow these.
[00:11:15] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. I think two nice signposts there. So the AFN website, British Nutrition foundation could also look at the British Dietetic association, bda. All nice trusted resources for listeners. And yeah, I suppose really the bottom line with the claims piece is not misleading consumers, just being responsible with our messaging. I always like to give the really basic example of you could have a deep fried fish and chips. Yes, it may be high in protein if you've met the criteria. But then the bigger piece is, do we want to be making that claim? So that's really where a registered nutritionists can help navigate that legislation and the responsibility piece with the consumers.
[00:11:57] Speaker A: Absolutely. I love that. Because you don't want to mislead that customer to think they're picking that choice. They're going to get a high protein source but you're not flagging them to what else might be in there. And that's why it's great as nutritionists and to work with a team or like how we've connected to always discuss options. If you think there might be a sort of murky water somewhere, it's always great to chat about it and see what you think is the right way to go.
[00:12:17] Speaker B: Yeah, definitely. And so thinking about the future, Lizzie, what are some of your focuses coming up? Have you got any new projects on the horizon?
[00:12:26] Speaker A: Absolutely. So I've mentioned sustainable nutrition a lot, but I hope you agree that I don't think it's going anywhere in our world of work at the moment. And it's a really exciting area to be working in. Back to the story for the next five years. That is our food and beverage strategy. That is what we're looking at. It will just become part of our culture and something that's just embedded in there. But also, as you said, we're always planning for the future and what's coming.
[00:12:46] Speaker B: Lizzy, thank you so much for joining me today. I've loved talking to you and hearing about the amazing work you're doing in both the sustainability and the nutrition space to both educate your workforce but then also nourish your consumers as well. But also just to chat nutritionist, nutritionists. It's always great to get a fresh perspective and ideas.
[00:13:06] Speaker A: Thanks Heather. It's been great to be here today and like you say, it's always good to chat nutritionist on nutritionist and share best practice and see what we're all up to. Just wanted to also take this opportunity to thank you and the Bidfood team for all the work you do to support us at Baxter Story and what we're up to. We're at a start, a very exciting journey and I hope we can pick this conversation up again soon.
[00:13:24] Speaker B: Absolutely. Thank you. Lizzie, thanks so much for listening. I hope this episode has given you some food for thought and maybe even inspired you to look at how you could improve the nutritional content of your menus and recipes piece. Whether it's improving the diversity across your menu or reducing the salt in your best selling dish, remember small changes can accumulate over time and lead to some great progress.
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