Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Awarded Silver Food for Life Served Here Award

Food for Life Scotland is delighted to announce that the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh has been awarded the prestigious Silver Food for Life Served Here (FFLSH) award, in collaboration with their catering partner, Heritage Portfolio. This achievement recognises Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh’s dedication to serving fresh, local, and sustainably sourced food, in alignment with the core values of the Food for Life programme.

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is the first tourist attraction in Scotland to receive this award, setting a new benchmark for sustainability in visitor catering.

With an estimated 1 million visitors per year from Scotland and around the globe, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is putting sustainability front and centre as its offering to those entering the doors with their Kitchen Garden, scratch-cooked seasonal produce and Waste-Knot boxes.

Fresh produce from the Kitchen Garden, located in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and holding an organic certification by the Soil Association, is used across up to 75% of all menu items. The total food miles for these ingredients on offer is only a 500-metre wheelbarrow journey from garden to counter – highlighting the smallest ‘farm to fork’ journey for a FFLSH award-holder.

Additional produce comes from the use of Waste-Knot boxes, a system for tackling food waste by rescuing surplus fruit and vegetables from farmers' fields and delivering them to chefs and charities, aiming to reduce food waste and support farmers and charities.

Catriona McCaughrean, Heritage Portfolio Sustainability and Marketing Manager, said: “Sustainability is at the heart of everything at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, a commitment consciously reflected in our catering. Understanding and addressing our impact, championing the conservation of our climate, and working to protect our planet our future generations – all of this is integral to our mission.

“The Food for Life Served Here award is a testament to the work being done across the board at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh to advance our journey with sustainability. As one of the biggest visitor attractions in Scotland, with many young families visiting, the quality of food parents will give to their children is a priority and we wanted to satisfy that. We are committed to serving food that truly is good for our planet and good for our people. The award shows that we take this mission for sustainability seriously, and we want our visitors to know that.”

The hard work and dedication of all involved has been recognised by the independently assessed scheme led by Soil Association Scotland and funded by Scottish Government. The Food for Life Scotland programme provides a framework through which local authorities can ensure they are serving food that’s good for health, the environment, and the economy. This is done by following a set of standards to achieve the Food for Life Served Here award at Bronze, Silver or Gold level.

As a Food for Life Served Here Silver award holder, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh ensures at least five percent of the ingredients budget for their service is spent on organic produce. This is in addition to meeting the Food for Life Served Here Bronze award standards, which include ensuring that a minimum of 75 percent of dishes are freshly prepared from unprocessed ingredients. Meals are also free from undesirable trans fats, sweeteners and additives, and use free range eggs, higher welfare meat and ingredients from sustainable and ethical sources. 

Sandy Robson, Executive Director of Heritage Portfolio, said: “Sustainability and exceptional visitor experiences are at the very core of who we are, and we are delighted to have achieved Silver accreditation under the Soil Association’s Food for Life Served Here scheme.

We are proud to partner with the Soil Association as the first accredited Scottish visitor attraction, reinforcing our leadership in sustainable catering. The achievement of this award reflects our deep commitment to responsible sourcing, the reduction of our environmental impact, and delivering outstanding food and hospitality, and we look forward to welcoming visitors to enjoy fresh, seasonal, and homegrown food in this truly unique setting." 

Heritage Portfolio, a division of Sodexo Live! is a leading provider of private and corporate hospitality for cultural destinations. Producing outstanding catering and event services, it serves some of the most prestigious venues across Britain, delivering amazing experiences that go beyond the remarkable food it creates. 

Sarah Cathcart, Interim Director of Horticulture and Visitor Experience at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, said: “As one of the world’s leading botanic gardens, the interdependence of humans and plants is at the forefront of much of our scientific research. Moreover, as the first visitor attraction in Scotland to receive the award of Silver Food for Life Served Here, this important milestone for the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh reflects both the importance of sustainability to our vision and our status as one of Scotland’s most-loved tourist attractions.

“By offering a unique planet-friendly dining experience in our cafés, we hope to enthuse visitors with a love of plants, and perhaps even inspire them to grow their own fresh produce at home.  What could be more local and sustainable than that?”

Sarah Duley, Head of Food, Soil Association Scotland said: “We are delighted to welcome the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh to the Food for Life Scotland family. We extend our congratulations as they become the first Scottish visitor attraction to achieve the Food for Life Served Here award. Doing so highlights their commitment to providing fresh, locally sourced, and sustainably produced food for their visitors, and the Food for Life Scotland team have been impressed with their approach. It's great to see the connections being made between the food grown on site, the environmental concerns of the gardens and the food on the plate, with organic produce grown on site being used in the kitchens

“By meeting rigorous standards on healthy eating, sourcing ethical and environmentally friendly food and championing Scottish producers through Food for Life Served Here certification, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is not only enhancing the culinary experience at their venue with sustainable food, but is also supporting Scotland’s food businesses and Good Food Nation ambitions. Gaining this certification sets a great example for other attractions in Scotland to follow and our team is here to help. Congratulations to all involved.”