Root one catering

Backed jointly by catering giant Sodexho and celebrity chef Steven Saunders, Organica is preparing to offer a 100% organic meal experience in the event catering market. Janet Harmer reports.

You know that it's more than a passing trend when one of the UK's biggest contract caterers picks up a food banner and waves it furiously. So when Sodexho launched Organica, the first outside catering company to achieve Soil Association (SA) accreditation, at the Chelsea Flower Show last May, everybody sat up and took notice.

In setting up Organica, a joint venture between Sodexho's Prestige division and celebrity chef Steven Saunders, chef-proprietor of Sheene Mill restaurant and hotel in Melbourne, Cambridgeshire, the company intends to offer a 100% organic meal experience within the event catering market.

At the time of the launch, however, the new company did not have the structures in place to be able to operate. It is only now with the appointment of the first general manager for Organica, Alun Roberts, and the formalisation of extensive procedures that need to be in place to be able to operate legally as an organic operation that the company is ready to enter the marketplace offering a bespoke, upmarket product.

Five functions have already been confirmed for the first quarter of the year - giving Roberts an assurance that he will achieve his aim of securing 25 events during 2002, with a projected annual turnover of £300,000. "The organic market is very much a niche one so we see this as a slow-growth business, particularly as we are in a slightly recessionary year and we're now working in a tighter marketplace." he says.

Among the confirmed events is the SA's Conference Dinner for 300 covers, to be held on 27 March at Lord's cricket ground in St John's Wood, London. The menu will include cappuccino of rocket, Thai salmon fish cakes with sweet and sour cucumber relish, lemon roasted chicken with mushrooms pappardelle, asparagus, baby leeks and pesto, a trio of brûlées (chocolate, lemon grass and passion fruit) with a winter fruit compote, coffee, green tea and tisanes, and chocolates.

One of the kitchens at Lord's, where Sodexho has a 10-year contract to operate the catering, is so far the only permanent kitchen within the company that has been granted SA certification. Licences have to be renewed annually following inspection by SA personnel. Applications can be made for temporary licences for one-off events on a greenfield site, such as at a major sporting event or a wedding in a marquee.

Having the licences in place, though, is not enough to satisfy the SA. Every recipe for every event also has to be sent to them for approval.

Malcolm Emery, board director of Organica and executive chef of Sodexho's Prestige division - which incorporates outside contracts such as Lord's, Kew Gardens and Hampton Court Palace, as well as the three party catering companies of Prestige Banqueting, Relish and Organica - recognises that operating a fully organic company is a bureaucratic business.

"It requires an enormous amount of work and form-filling, but we wanted to do it properly and be recognised as the first event catering company to achieve certification," he says. As well as ensuring all products sourced are certified as being fully organic, all new ingredients also have to be approved by Safeguard, Sodexho's own environmental health service.

Emery is also only too aware of the challenges that lie ahead in running an organic catering business, particularly one in which a large number of covers might be involved. "The majority of fresh produce that we are using is British and seasonal which makes tastings - usually held two or three months before an event - difficult," he says.

"And, of course, there is not necessarily a guarantee that a specific vegetable will be ready on the day so we have to have an alternative lined up. We also have to consider that organic produce does not have the same longevity as nonorganic ingredients, which can be a major issue in outside catering when you require a long preparation time."

So long as he is given sufficient notice - ideally around three months - Emery doesn't expect it will be a problem to cater for large events. "But if we were asked to do a dinner for 1,000 covers next week I think it could be difficult," he says.

With Emery estimating that organic food costs 25-30% more than non-organic food, he is looking carefully at how he buys ingredients, particularly meat. He knows, for instance, that he will be able to reduce his outgoings by buying whole chickens, rather than just the supremes that traditionally are in high demand at functions. The legs could then be boned and stuffed and the trimmings made into terrines.

On average, an Organica meal, per head, might cost £80 to £90, whereas its nonorganic equivalent would be £70 to £80. "We are offering a bespoke service, so we will ensure that we put together a package that suits each client," says Roberts, who believes there is great potential in promoting Organica to the entertainment and music industries.

Saunders is expected to play a significant role in helping to establish and build Organica's business. "From a business angle, Steven's TV image is important to us and we shall be using his name a lot," says Roberts.

For Saunders, who will take a 50% slice of the profit or loss of Organica, his involvement is based on a passionate belief that eating organic food is not only beneficial to health, the environment, and animal welfare, but is also an enjoyable experience. "I'm tired of going to functions all over the country where I've paid - or someone else has paid - a lot of money for a piece of factory-farmed chicken which is tasteless," he says. "And as I'm allergic to antibiotics, I've often ended up with an upset tummy after eating such food.

"I've wanted to move into this area for a long time, but it has only been with the full back-up of a big business like Sodexho that it has been possible."

Perhaps surprisingly, Sheene Mill, the 120-seat restaurant with nine bedrooms that Saunders runs with his wife Sally, who has joined her husband on the board of Organica, is only 75% organic. "We are a very busy business, doing breakfasts, snacks, lunch and dinners and have to be everything to everybody," he says. "We've got to be commercial and we couldn't be that if we were totally organic." However, he says that he would reconsider moving closer to 100% organic and applying for certification if the SA relaxed its current stringent criteria.

Saunders is working with Emery on writing menus and attending a couple of meetings a month to drive forward the business.

As well as developing the outside catering arm of the business, there is also the opportunity for Organica to expand through the opening of restaurants. A site in a rural location is presently under negotiation. "We'd also like to do restaurants in London and Birmingham," says Saunders.

Sample Organica menu (available in summer)

Country-style breads served warm with olive oil and unsalted butter.

Bruschetta of roasted organic pepper with goats' cheese, pesto and balsamic.

Rack of new-season lamb with coriander crust, crisp onion rosti, young spinach, fava bean and pinot noir juices.

Poached fresh figs with orange in Muscat, tangerine sorbet, orange confit.

Tea, coffee and infusions with sweetmeats.