Giant food companies have come together to launch an online sustainability site to meet changing consumer demands.

Bidvest Foodservice and a ‘green alliance’ made up of giants from the food industry, including Jacobs Douwe Egberts, Vegware, Delifrance UK, Premier Foods and Unilever have launched ‘plate2planet’.

This is a ‘one stop shop’ digital platform, which will aim to address the food sector’s growing demand for useful and practical information about sustainability.

Head of Sustainability at Bidvest Foodservice, Shirley Duncalf, commented: “Our customers, and those of our plate2planet partners, care deeply about sustainability and operators across the industry are taking measures to tackle the challenges.”

The platform will share green knowledge, including regulation guidance, supply chain stories, handy tools, case studies and best practice examples for industry workers.

Duncalf said that the plate2planet initiative has a collection of knowledge that is “unparalleled” in the industry, adding: “Our aim, in sharing these resources in a single space, is to support the entire industry to make small but effective changes which can ultimately have a huge impact on a global scale, and on profit margins.

“Our message is that by working together we can truly enact positive change.”

The Sustainable Restaurant Association conducted a recent survey which revealed that 83% of consumers said sustainability directly affects their dining choices.

Bidvest explained that caterers must now successfully navigate the challenge of making sustainable business choices, while they also face ever evolving changed to sustainability policy and regulation, as well as the demands of consumers.

Duncalf added that caterers are looking to push forward successful green initiatives that add true value to their own customers, community and their bottom line.

However, many of them have said that they lack the necessary resources to find new suppliers, research trends or dissect complicated reports and government documents.

Also partnering on the site is Planet First, the sustainability consultancy that provides The Planet Mark a certification for organisations that want to demonstrate their ongoing commitment to sustainability.