Compass continues to put health and wellbeing at the heart of its business, and following the launch of the Governments Responsibility Deal in March this year the company has taken steps to ensure that they provide a wide range of food and beverage products so that consumers can make informed choices with regards to their health and wellbeing. One way Compass is achieving this is through the introduction of 1% milk, a healthier alternative to its semi-skimmed counterpart.
Compass purchases over 25 million litres of milk every year and in the past five months 1% milk – which is offered in the most popular milk formats from 250ml bottles right up to 13.6 litre milk dispensers – has seen a continual growth in consumption. Between July and August for example, the amount of Compass sites using 1% milk has more than doubled and since its introduction in February, 1% milk has seen an impressive fivefold increase in unit sales.
Mick Hickman, Foodservice Director at Compass Group UK & Ireland commented, The availability and promotion of 1% milk across our sites is just one of the steps we are taking to help our customers make healthy choices and showcases how the business is embracing the Responsibility Deal pledges. In addition we are developing a whole new range of healthy promotions for our sites and rolling out new initiatives due to be launched in the next few months.
1% milk contains 41% less total and saturated fat than standard semi-skimmed milk, and has a higher calcium content. While it may be the healthier option, that doesnt mean its any less appetising. In blind tests during 2009 the Food Standards Agency (FSA) found that participants liked the taste of 1% milk as much as standard semi-skimmed milk and at least 94% thought it was an acceptable alternative to semi-skimmed milk.
Compass is working hard to fulfil its health and wellbeing pledges, with 1% milk being one of the many changes. Improvements include having analysed over 2000 recipes to ensure accurate nutritional information in the form of guideline daily amounts (GDAs) can be provided to customers.
In addition over 4000 product specifications are being reviewed to ensure all artificial trans fats from the food served are removed by the end of 2011 and that the company is able to ensure it meets, if not exceeds, the salt reduction targets set.
