Accolades Arrive All At Once For Lothian Buses
The restaurant for office staff at Lothian Buses’ (LB) Annandale Street depot was first to achieve the award, after all main meals were confirmed as being made with 90% less salt and butter. There’s also plenty of fresh produce available on the menus, including lean beef and skinless chicken fillets.
Between Annandale Street, which serves mainly office staff, and LB’s Seafield Road depot, which caters primarily for bus drivers, caterer Eurest serves around 700 customers per day at each site.
Eurest Catering Manager, David Pennycuick, explains how it proved more of a challenge to introduce healthier eating to the drivers’ depot than the customer outlet: ‘The drivers didn’t really like change at first and were keen to stick what they were used to. However we got around this by gradually introducing the new, healthier recipes and keeping the prices as low as possible. By and large, they haven’t really noticed the differences at all.’
David and his team also made a point of seeking the views of his customers on a regular basis: ‘We have a weekly catering-team meeting when we discuss the feedback from customers. They don’t hold back in telling us if they don’t like something, so we change the menu according to what they want. After all, it’s all about them at the end of the day, isn’t it!’
A variety of healthy options and preparation techniques were implemented at both bus depots, including:
· – More low-fat snack options available, such as yoghurts
· – Grilled mushrooms and tomatoes added to the breakfast menu
· – Poached and scrambled eggs, porridge and more cereals for breakfast
· – A new range of salads and sandwiches with low-fat spread and dressings
· – No more frying: All breakfast food is grilled or cooked in the combi-oven
· – Lunchtimes feature stir-fries using lean meat, peppers, onions and mushroom
wwwww.healthylivingaward.co.uk
