Foodservice Cateys 2023: Healthy Eating Champion – Luxagini Dayanandan, Restaurant Associates

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The winner of this award has developed innovative nutritional programmes that have not just promoted wellbeing but served up healthy revenue growth. Luxagini Dayanandan is head of wellness and nutrition at caterer Restaurant Associates, which employs more than 3,000 people across a range of sites, including Google, HSBC and Snapchat offices and at cultural venue Somerset House. The company serves more than 20,000 meals annually and offers tailored dining experiences for each client and their guests.

Over the past year, Dayanandan has worked on developing the Ways to be Well health and sustainability scheme across the company's offer, which has yielded significant results. This has included the launch of the Good for Gut range across breakfast and lunch offerings, focusing on dishes that promote gut health. These items have seen a 40% uptake in orders and surpassed the popularity of other previously more sought-after options.

To meet a growing demand for more nutritious meals, Dayanandan has introduced a wider variety of plant-forward dishes rich in fibre and protein, which have seen a 30% increase in sales compared to the previous year. Some 60% of meals sold across Restaurant Associates' breakfast and lunch services are now healthier options. She is also behind the launch of café concept Eat Ten, which features eco-labelled grab-and-go items, and saw the removal of red meat from the menu. Through this concept, sales of plant-forward dishes have increased by 256%.

Educating customers on nutrition is also a major part of Dayanandan's role, and she has delivered over 90 ‘lunch and learn' sessions across Restaurant Associates sites. These have had a notable impact, with positive feedback from customers and clients, and a 50% uptake in healthier menu options on the days they are run.

Alongside improving health and nutrition, Dayanandan has overseen a 30% reduction in food waste across the business over the past 12 months. This has included 789,631 litres of old cooking oil collected by Olleco and transformed into renewable, low-carbon biodiesel.

A managing waste guide has been launched to help tackle the issue across all stages of production in the business, and Restaurant Associates also partners with Waste Knot, which gets surplus vegetables from farmers' fields into chefs' kitchens. The link-up has helped the business rescue over 44 tonnes of wonky fruit and vegetables from ending up in landfill.

Another area of focus has been mental as well as physical health. Dayanandan has overseen the appointment of over 150 mental health first aiders across the UK to assist team members and the launch of a 24-hour helpline to deliver specialised support. Our judges were very impressed with the range of initiatives led by Dayanandan and how her work has directly contributed to creating a positive culture, as well as educating customers about the importance of nutrition.

What the judges said

"A very well thought-through submission. Alongside great eating initiatives, we liked the addition of mental healthcare first-aiders." David Bentley

The shortlist

Sarah Bartolo, Eurest

Luxagini Dayanandan, Restaurant Associates

Lizzie Hennig, BaxterStorey

Andy Jones, AJ Associates

Charlotte Newman, BM

Past winners

2022 Rees Bramwell, Eurest

2021 Liz Forte, Eurest

2019 Sophie Murray, Sunrise Senior Living

2018 Amy Roberts, Holroyd Howe

2017 Sophie Murray, Sunrise Senior Living

2016 Amanda Ursell and Judy Roberts, Charlton House

2015 Kimberley Aplin, Sodexo

2014 Kate Martin, Brookwood Partnership

2013 Caroline Fry, CH&Co