Campus catering director on 'most influential' list

The man spearheading a sustainable food revolution on our campuses has been recognised as one of the most influential figures in public sector catering by the industry’s main publication.

Matthew White was name in Public Sector Caterer’s annual list of 20 influencers, drawn up by an independent panel of industry experts. Nominees are judged on their record of representing people working in the catering sector and their capacity to influence change.

Matthew is the University’s Director of Campus Commerce and Chair of the Public Sector Catering Alliance, which represents catering operations at universities, colleges, prisons and more across the UK. He was made an MBE in the last round of New Year Honours.

He hopes to use this platform to showcase initiatives that make the way we eat on campus greener and more sustainable and encourage other providers to follow suit.

Matthew said: “With over two billion meals served a year and over £3.2bn spent on food provisions alone, public sector caterers are a mighty beast and with that comes big responsibilities.

“Our collective ambition is to reduce the impacts of catering operations on the environment, make them more sustainable and improve performance in ever pressing times.

“I am committed to using this year to share the great work we have undertaken here at the University of Reading under the Menus of Change initiative and to utilise the research and academic work we have to underpin change and improvement across the industry.”

Find out more about the University’s sustainable approach to food on the Hospitality website.