About

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Thomas Franks is one of the UK’s leading B Corp-certified contract caterers, operating more than 350 across the UK and Europe.
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They serve both B&I and educational institutions, delivering bespoke food experiences and earning recognition for their high culinary standards, people-first culture, and strong commitment to social and climate impact.

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Culinary Director Gavin Young and Head of Sustainability Genevieve Boast guide how Thomas Franks’ values are lived day to day, combining culinary excellence with sustainability leadership.

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The Challenge

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Our main challenge is to support the creativity and freedom in our chef teams, while keeping costs in check, driving sustainability, and supporting informed and sustainable food choices.
It was simply becoming too cumbersome to live up to our own standards. We experienced:

• Extra admin for chefs publishing menus with carbon labels, nutrition, and prices
• Extra admin for sustainability teams consolidating and reporting on ESG
• Lost margin from ingredient price volatility not being captured in a timely manner
• Low adoption of our previous  food management system as they proved too rigid or complex

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“FoodOp is the first food management system that scales well with our chef teams”
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Gavin Young, Group Culinary Director

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The Solution

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Thomas Franks and FoodOp got to know each other through pilots in four locations, and have since collaborated closely to drive sustainability and reduce the administrative workload so their chefs can focus on great culinary experiences.
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FoodOp was selected for its ease of use, fast implementation, and flexibility tailored to contract catering. It was quickly adopted by both kitchen and admin teams and now supports them in:

• Menu planning with full control of costs, CO₂, nutrition, and allergens
• Menu publishing with pricing, carbon labels, nutrition, and allergens
• ESG and contract KPI reporting based on procurement data
• Food waste reporting without any manual recordings from our chef teams
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“FoodOp makes it seamless to drive sustainability, reduce food waste and publish menus with carbon footprints, nutritional values and allergens.”

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Genevieve Boast, Group Head of Sustainability

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The Results

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Since implementing FoodOp, Thomas Franks has achieved:

• Less admin workload for chef teams. No manual allergen matrix, no manual recording of food waste, and no manual signage.
• Less admin for reporting teams. Automatic reporting on ESG and contract KPIs. No data consolidation and cleaning. No manual customer reports
• Operational excellence. Consistent way of working and brand experience across sites. Less planning and purchasing errors.
• Improved guest experience. More transparency around menus, more time in the kitchen for chef teams, and menu information shared directly in guest apps, screens, and POS systems.
  

Pictures and supporting quotes:

“FoodOp makes it seamless to publish menus with carbon footprints, nutritional values and allergens. Before FoodOp, our chef teams preferred working in Microsoft Word and very few used our food management and purchasing system. FoodOp is the first food management system that scales well with our chef teams”

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Gavin Young, Group Culinary Director

“FoodOp has given us concrete data on our sustainability goals. They connect directly to our procurement system and generate impact dashboards for both internal and external stakeholders across our locations. The impact of our sustainability initiatives have become much more transparent.”

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Genevieve Boast, Group Head of Sustainability

“FoodOp has completely automated a daunting task for our chef and reporting teams especially when it comes to food waste. The solution is quick to adopt and delivers consistent data aligned with WRAP categories. Together, we turn insights into measurable progress: adjusting portion sizes, optimizing production, refining menu planning, and reducing buffet overproduction.”
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Genevieve Boast, Group Head of Sustainability

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