The Venues Collection becomes the first UK venue chain to remove dairy from all dessert menus.

11 March 2024

The Venues Collection has become the first UK venue chain to remove dairy from all dessert menus across all its five venues. This groundbreaking move is expected to save over 42 tonnes of CO2 on event menus alone in 2024.

The near identical dairy-free alternatives have been developed by Sam Morgan, Executive Head Chef of The Venues Collection and includes all the classics including sticky toffee pudding, cherry trifle, Biscoff mousse with raspberry compote, seasonal berry cheesecake and salted caramel panna cotta with flapjack crumble.

Sam Morgan explained: “Switching to non-dairy desserts is a bold move that we’re implementing in all our venues and across our restaurants and event menus. The dairy produced for desserts has a substantial carbon footprint, so this change will cut our emissions by half, saving over 42 tonnes of CO2 just on our event menus in the next year. It’s the equivalent of skipping 12 return flights from Heathrow to Sydney; small efforts like this add up, and these subtle changes make a difference without a big impact on our food.

"Our sticky toffee pudding is a best seller, and the new version is actually plant-based– but you’d never know because it tastes exactly the same as the original recipe. I challenge anyone to taste the difference on any of our desserts because sustainable food choices don't mean having to compromise. Choosing alternatives, educating ourselves and our guests, and making informed decisions can create events that are both memorable and eco-friendly.”

Jo Austin, Sales Director, The Venues Collection also commented: “Removing dairy also ensures that our menus are now accessible to more of our delegates. The number of delegates with allergies or dietary requirements is continuing to rise, so by removing dairy we ensure that’s one less allergen for event organisers to consider. Our focus is always to do everything we can to make the event booking process as easy as possible.”

The dairy free range of desserts is now available on the Meetings for Change Plus event packages – with carbon labeling as standard.

For more information go to: www.thevenuescollection.co.uk

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