Press Release AUgust 2014
HARVEY NICHOLS' OXO TOWER RESTAURANT INTRODUCES TAKE HOME BOXES FROM BIOPAC TO REDUCE FOOD WASTE
Take Home Boxes were the natural choice following their Three Star Sustainability Award.
Harvey Nichols' OXO Tower in South Bank, London, has introduced Take Home Boxes as a way to reduce food waste, as well as giving customers the opportunity to take something home to remember their experience at OXO.
The Take Home Boxes have been manufactured and printed in the UK by eco-friendly packaging specialist, Biopac.
Kerri McGuinness, Marketing and Communications Manager at Harvey Nichols said,
"Recently awarded an SRA Three Star Rating, we are always trying to find innovative ways to further improve our sustainability practices. We put the project out to tender with three suppliers and found Biopac to be the most flexible with our bespoke design
needs and responsive to our requests. It was a long term project, and the end result is certainly worth it."
The boxes are made from wood pulp that is produced from sustainable forests in Europe and coated with a compostable material to render them leak proof. Functional and sustainable, they can be fully composted when they've reached their end of life, so very kind
to the environment.
The Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) has quoted an average restaurant throws out 21 tonnes of food a year and that embarrassment is the main reason more diners don't ask to take food home. About a third of that waste is swept directly from diners' plates into thebin. With Take Home Boxes readily available, the OXO Tower will now be encouraging customers to take their leftovers home, helping to reduce this figure.
Commenting on their sustainability rating, Catherine Conway, Senior Account Manager for OXO at The SRA said, "We're absolutely delighted that OXO has achieved a Three Star Sustainability Rating, which is the result of four years of hard work increasing their
sustainability commitment and achievements each year. In particular, the SRA were impressed by their sourcing policy including local and seasonal fruit and vegetables, MSC fish and seafood and Fairtrade ingredients. It makes perfect sense that they
should introduce Take Home Boxes for their customers, after all, who would want to waste a morsel of these high quality, delicious dishes?"
Mark Brigden, Technical Director at Biopac, added: "We'd like to congratulate OXO Tower Restaurant for the sustainability rating, it's thoroughly deserved and we encourageother restaurants to do the same."
ENDS
Restaurateurs can contact Biopac directly on 01386 555 777 or email info@biopac.co.uk to order Take Home boxes and get in touch with the SRA via email hello@thesra.org or calling 020 7479 4224 to discuss their restaurants sustainability.
For further information, please contact:
Karen Randall, Biopac: 07908 610 190 karen@sixothree.co.uk
Kerri McGuinness, Harvey Nichols: 0207 803 3805 x3055 Kerri.Mcguinness@harveynichols.com
NOTES TO EDITORS
Biopac
www.biopac.co.uk
Biopac is the leading UK developer and supplier of environmentally responsible packaging and catering disposables. Formed in 2002, their passion was to develop environmentally responsible alternatives to conventional oil based packaging products. After years of
research and development, they have created a comprehensive range of exciting products using materials that are both practical and sustainable. Clients include: Hard Rock Café, KFC, Urban Pie and Vestey Foods, along with a number of other well established names.
