Summary
Since December 2024, Forward Food has partnered with the University of Nottingham to support its ambition to increase the appeal and uptake of plant-based food across its catered halls. Through hands-on chef training, menu development support and behavioural menu design guidance, we have helped the university strengthen its plant-based offer while ensuring meals remain delicious, satisfying and practical to deliver at scale.
How we helped
Forward Food delivered two specialist plant-based training workshops for 14 chefs working across the University of Nottingham’s ten catered student halls.
The first session, led by renowned chef and author Jenny Chandler, focused on the fundamentals of creating balanced, flavour-packed plant-based dishes. Chefs explored techniques for building flavour and texture, creating satisfying meals, and making the most of pulses, grains and other nutrient-rich plant proteins. The workshop provided practical skills and inspiration to help chefs develop appealing dishes that meet both customer expectations and nutritional needs.
“[Forward Food] shared some brilliant tips and ideas on how to get the best flavours and textures into plant-based dishes, showing that sustainable food can be just as exciting and delicious as anything else on the menu.”
— Mike Lear, Food and Beverage Manager, University of Nottingham
A second workshop, led by Belgian pastry chef Danielle Maupertuis, focused on plant-based desserts. Chefs were introduced to a range of dairy alternatives, egg replacements and plant-based thickeners that can be sourced through existing catering suppliers, helping to demonstrate how plant-based baking can be both accessible and cost-effective. The recipes and techniques were specifically designed for large-scale catering environments, enabling chefs to create attractive, high-quality desserts suitable for volume service.
Alongside the training programme, Forward Food conducted a comprehensive Menu Evaluation of the university’s catered hall menus. This assessment provided tailored recommendations on menu design, language and promotion, helping the team identify opportunities to make plant-based options more visible, appealing and easy for students to choose.
Results
The impact of this work is already visible across the university’s catered halls. Approximately 50% of their menu options are plant-based, and the plant-based main dishes are consistently listed first to increase their visibility.
Building on this progress, the university committed to serving exclusively plant-based desserts three days per week across the dinner menu for all ten catered halls, beginning in September 2026. This equates to approximately 9,000 plant-based desserts served every week, helping thousands of students experience delicious plant-based choices as part of their everyday dining experience.
These changes demonstrate how practical chef training, menu improvements and institutional commitment can work together to make plant-based food a normal, attractive and popular choice.
“This training has given our teams the confidence, skills and practical solutions to deliver plant-based desserts at scale without compromising on quality or efficiency. It aligns strongly with our sustainability ambitions, while ensuring we continue to offer desserts that our students genuinely enjoy.
“Committing to plant-based desserts for part of the week is a meaningful and achievable step that supports our climate goals, inclusivity and operational resilience. Building on this work, we are planning for at least three out of the five weekdays to offer exclusively plant-based desserts from the start of the 2026–27 academic year. The Forward Food programme has helped us translate ambition into action in a way that works day-to-day in our kitchens.”— Hema Jankee, Senior Operations Manager, University of Nottingham
What’s next?
Forward Food continues to provide ongoing support to the University of Nottingham through recipe development, menu optimisation and sustainability impact assessments. By measuring and tracking the environmental benefits of menu changes, we can help the university understand and communicate the positive impact of serving more plant-based food, while continuing to enhance the student dining experience.