The Challenge

A top London university was concerned about the pricing they were being offered by some of their suppliers and wanted to source more locally. They had strict food safety requirements and complex delivery needs, which they found often eliminated some of the smaller suppliers. They also needed to demonstrate they were buying certain foods in accordance with the Food For Life Scheme.

The Solution

Tried & Supplied was able to highlight a range of local suppliers who could work with their requirements and offer better pricing than their existing suppliers. The switch was made and new suppliers were onboarded with built-in ESG checks that gave the university complete visibility over their impact and meant they always knew in advance if they were on target to achieve the required percentages of ethical produce specified by the Food For Life Scheme.

The Result

They were able to source 10% of their basket from local suppliers within a 10 mile radius and ensure ongoing compliance with the Food For Life Scheme, while saving as much as 30% on key product categories, such as meat. They are now planning to use the additional insight they have gained from the Tried & Supplied platform to set and monitor progress towards further targets to improve their sustainability.

Sustainability Outcomes by Discipline

Local Sourcing

• Mapped all suppliers by location

• Flagged non-local sourcing where local alternatives existed

• Created “local score” per site to boost community-based procurement

Product Risk

• Identified 308 products with modern slavery risk

• Flagged 279 products with deforestation exposure

• Created action plan for high-risk suppliers and products

Compliance

• Automated reporting for Food For Life Scheme

• Generated live alerts when purchases breached sourcing policies

• Centralised documentation for audit readiness

Supplier Management

• Onboarded 12 new suppliers with built-in ESG checks

• Set up regular monitoring for price fluctuations to be more proactive in resolving increases

• Incorporated ESG into supplier performance reviews