C
hartwells has been
operating in Hong Kong
for over 20 years and is
dedicated to educational
catering. The Company’s philosophy
is Eat, Learn, Live. Chartwells works
with schools to become part of their
community, working hand-in-hand with
them on many school projects. Schools
are a place of community and learning,
and Chartwells staff and management
use this as their core ingredient to
provide a friendly, safe, student-focused
catering environment.
Food Safety, Nutrition and Sourcing
Chartwells have a dedicated Culinary
Development Team, made up of a
Dietitian, a Nutritionist and a number
of culinary professionals. They have
developed menus to ensure that even
the unhealthiest sounding of dishes, like
Pizza, are nutritionally healthy and taste
great. “Nutritional, healthy food does not
mean boring food… as some may think,”
says Diana Chan, Chartwells’ Nutritionist.
“We have developed some clever
ways of changing the base ingredients
of some traditionally unhealthy foods
to make them better for the students.”
Some may see this as cheating the kids
out of that nasty sugar and salt… and
maybe it is, but “Sourcing and ensuring
food safety is key to our operations; our
policy is safety comes first in everything
we do,” says Francis O’Grady, Operations
Manager. “Being able to ensure the
safety and traceability of all of our food
products gives me confidence that
the food we use is safe and properly
sourced.” Chartwells is involved in many
projects in this area and they have
aligned themselves with many NGOs to
achieve what O’Grady calls ‘bringing
the classroom into the canteen,’ an
holistic style approach to educating
students as to where their food comes
from and how we learn from safe food
production and farming practices.
Social and Environmental Projects
This is something that is imbedded
in everything that Chartwells holds
sacred. Management are acutely
aware that the decisions made by
them on menu choices, marketing
styles and product placement influence
students’ and customers’ choices and
buying behaviours. O’Grady explains
that working in this type of catering
environment brings with it a lot of
responsibility. “Our customers are not like
those in the ‘high street’; they are our
customers every day for their school life,
which can be from 6 months to 16 years.
We need to ensure that the choices
we make as a company influence and
effect positive eating patterns and
choices in our customers – children
and adults alike. This responsibility is the
building block for all past and future
plans for Chartwells in Hong Kong. We
are constantly looking at new food
trends and developing them so that
they can be delivered in educational
catering here in Hong Kong.”
Francis O’Grady (Operations Manager)
Diana Chan (Nutritionist)
Chartwells is dedicated to educational
catering, working hand-in-hand with schools
to become part of their communities.
sponsored feature
Eat, Learn & Live
with Chartwells
September 2016
23
