16th February 2022, London: Twickenham Stadium introduced a new digital food map as part of its hosting of the West London Business Awards last week. The gala banquet welcomed over 350 guests and, with a brief specifically aimed towards sustainability, the organisers looked to create a digitally accessible map which showed both the sourcing of the food, the onward value to the environment, and its nutritional data.
The venue has been one of the industry’s leading voices on food waste and sustainability for the last few years but believes the ambition and commitment of the West London Business Awards, towards both sustainability and delegate engagement, marks a sea change in event organiser commitment to the subject.
“We have to be honest; this is a subject that means a lot to a lot of people, but often gets watered down when it comes to the pressure of delivering memorable and indulgent events,” comments Nils Braude, Managing Director, Twickenham Stadium. “Our job has always been to show that organisers can have both quality and sustainability, but that we can also ‘sell’ it as part of the experience; this is exactly what this event did so well.”
The food map was displayed on the digital signage throughout the two main rooms the event took place in – the Rose and the Live Room – but was also made available online through a QR code that also held nutritional information.
“We wanted to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. Sustainability is top of mind across the business community and we wanted to make it an integral part of our awards ceremony,” “This wasn’t about going fully vegan, but looking at plant first options and local sourced meats that don’t carry excessive environmental cost. When we shared this with our guests it went down incredibly well; it was fine dining with a conscience.”
West London Business are supporting businesses on their net zero journey through our Better Futures+ programme and we want to lead by example through our business actions, events is an integral part of that, commented Andrew Dakers, CEO, West London Business. Our first in person awards for two years provides us with the opportunity to do that at our flagship event. We are excited to lead the way for people and planet across West London.”
“People don’t usually associate our stadium with plant-based eating; they come here for quality, occasion and experience,” concluded Nils. “What we did, in partnership with the West London Business Awards, was to merge the two together. It’s great news for us, for them, and it’s a sea change in thinking that we’re sharing with all the events coming our way in 2022.”