The London 2012 Games will involve 4,200 Paralympic and 10,500 Olympic athletes, 20,000 press and media and 9 million ticketholders. And they’ve all got to eat. Some 14 million meals will be served over the course of the Games and LOCOG’s ambition is that they will all play their part in setting new standards for quality and sustainability at the event.

Project deliverables

Deloitte developed and delivered a strategic framework to underpin the detailed planning of food and catering at the 2012 Games. A fundamental part of the project was to establish the objectives and metrics associated with the delivery of sustainable food.

LOCOG's challenge

London 2012 is committed to hosting a sustainable Games – one that minimises its environmental impact and maximises its positive social legacy. ‘Safe and sustainable’ food is part of that commitment, with the environmental and social consequences of food being the subject of increasing public and political debate.

As such there was a high degree of expectation that LOCOG would consider the sustainability of the food it serves, and seek to maximise the use of local, seasonal, fair trade and organic produce.

A strategic framework was required to establish the basis on which the food and catering services would be planned, and to outline where LOCOG’s catering approach can demonstrate enhanced sustainability credentials and contribute to the overarching aim of staging a Games that sets a new benchmark for the sustainability of major events.

The unique scale and complexity of the operation and the lack of precedents and best practice to draw on meant that LOCOG effectively started this challenge with a blank sheet of paper. 

What Deloitte did

Through a period of research, review and consultation, Deloitte developed a deep understanding of the unique practical and logistical requirements of a Games catering operation.

By bringing together a team with expertise spanning the food and beverage industry, supply chain and sustainable development, we were able to provide insight and challenge to LOCOG’s sustainable food aspirations.

Rather than focusing purely on the environmental aspects of sustainable food, the team considered diversity and inclusion, health and nutrition and food safety and hygiene as the core themes, and reflected the drivers of public policy, industry performance, customer experience and legacy to develop an intuitive framework.

Deloitte does a lot of work around food policy and the food and drink industry, so we were able to offer a team that combined expertise in framework development with knowledge of the policy and commercial landscape around sustainable food and major events catering.

Impact on the Games

This is the first time an event of this size and complexity has been driven by the principles of sustainability and there is much stakeholder expectation in this area.

The sustainable food framework enabled LOCOG to engage stakeholders in understanding the practical and logistical constraints involved in a catering operation of this scale and also to draw on expertise and innovation to work towards its sustainability objectives.

Food is a core part of the London 2012 experience that will impact every one of LOCOG’s clients during the Games, and the legacy is just as important. The knowledge being acquired now will help sustainability become the foundation for food planning not just at future large scale events but in everyday catering facilities such as hospitals and schools.