University of Birmingham is one of the UK’s leading academic institutions, home to more than 38,000 students and 8,000 staff.
The University’s food and beverage operation spans 20 outlets and supports everything from student meals and staff dining to VIP hospitality and major academic conferences. Behind the scenes, a dedicated culinary and catering team of around 180 people delivers a high-performing service that reflects the University’s ambition and commitment to quality.
Shaun Craig, Associate Director of Culinary & Development at the University, explains: “There’s a myth that University catering is only busy during term time. In reality, we deliver hospitality year-round, from summer schools and business conferences to private events and even hosting 2,800 athletes and officials during the 2022 Commonwealth Games. It’s a continuous operation that requires efficiency, innovation, as well as a focus on sustainability that aligns with our carbon-conscious approach to catering.”
A strategic partnership
Meeting the needs of such a large and diverse customer base, while also meeting high environmental and regulatory standards, is no small task. To help manage this scale, and the complexity that comes with it, in 2018 the University partnered with Pelican Procurement Services now known as Avendra International, a specialist procurement provider offering tailored support.
This strategic collaboration focuses on delivering operational efficiency, innovation and sustainability at its core. Working in partnership with Shaun and his team, Avendra International helps the University to simplify procurement, gain better visibility over supplier performance and support an expanding set of sustainability goals.
Extension of the team
Avendra International’s on-site team work as an extension of the University team to provide hands-on, strategic procurement support. The team regularly benchmark top products and suggests cost-saving alternatives, ensuring value without compromising quality.
They also source items for specific dietary needs, fulfil bespoke requests, and organise product tastings to keep menus fresh and relevant. Alongside this, they provide regular monthly reviews and quarterly strategic planning sessions to identify savings opportunities, share market insights, and align on upcoming project plans.
Shaun confirms, “Our operations are extensive, so having specialist support helps to simplify each of these areas. For example, running our own tenders would be overwhelming due to the depth of data that is required. Avendra International takes care of that - and their on-site presence makes all the difference.”
Digital transformation delivering efficiencies
The University has achieved measurable operational performance through its partnership with Avendra International, underpinned by their eProcurement system, Pi, which integrates with the University’s EPOS system.
The Pi system provides the catering team with real-time visibility into purchasing spend, product pricing, and sales trends. These insights support strategic planning and enable quick, informed responses to supply chain issues, product updates, or price changes.
Thanks to Pi’s invoice management module, the burden of manual invoicing has been reduced from more than 18,000 individual invoices a year to just 12 consolidated monthly payments. Stocktakes that once took up to a week are now completed within hours.
Pi supports the University with recipe and menu management, including allergen mapping and cost analysis. The Pi module, “Food Checker”, allows the University to easily share QR codes in every outlet, so students and staff can instantly access up-to-date allergen and nutritional data.
The Pi system also offers centralised ordering, carbon labelling, and waste tracking, helping the catering team improve efficiency, compliance, and transparency across the University’s entire operations.
Confirms Shaun: “Pi is one of the best systems I’ve worked with. From online ordering, allergen control to waste tracking, Pi gives us everything we need, in one place, and it just works. It really is quite remarkable. And as a data-driven organisation, it gives me all the data insights I need to make better decisions from a purchasing, menu development and operational planning point of view. I would encourage any catering team to work with Pi; you won’t look back.”
Shaun adds, “Whether it’s allergen data, price changes or responding to supplier challenges, we’ve got the tools, and an expert team by our side, to manage it.”
Reducing carbon footprint
One standout feature of Pi is its CO₂e tracking module, which the University uses to support its Carbon A-Rated Menu, a flagship sustainability initiative for conferences and hospitality.
Within this feature, Pi can automatically calculate an indicative CO₂e for each dish, and provide easy identification labels for meals ranging from very low to very high carbon emissions to help catering teams and customers make more informed decisions.
Confirm Shaun: “Each dish is carefully assessed for its full field-to-fork emissions, with the goal of keeping the combined emissions below 500g of CO₂ e, significantly less than the average UK meal. This low-carbon menu focuses on our locally sourced, seasonal and ethically produced ingredients, helping us to reduce our environmental impact while supporting regional suppliers, which is very important to us.”
Menus are built to reflect this ethos, and single-use plastics have been eliminated across catering operations.
Adds Shaun: “Since launching the initiative in April 2023, University of Birmingham has saved more than 25,000 tonnes of CO₂ and earned a Sustainable Innovation Award in recognition of our efforts. Our Green Conferencing Package is now our ‘default menu’ and Pi has been instrumental in making this possible – it’s a fantastic bit of kit.”
Sustainability Solutions
Throughout the year, Avendra also supports initiatives such as Green Week, where students and staff engage with suppliers, take part in interactive campaigns and sample sustainable food products.
Shaun says, “Avendra International’s continued support with our sustainability goals has helped the University achieve the Bronze Food for Life Award and Platinum Green Impact ratings across most departments.”
Culinary innovation
Avendra International plays a central role in supporting culinary innovation, too. Working alongside their Head of Culinary, Paul Bloxham, the team has developed a new street food concept for the Vale Village area, with seven themed counters and rotating menus.
“Avendra International helped us trial dishes, source new products and bring the concept to life,” says Shaun. “We are excited to launch this to our students in September.”
Bespoke Support
Avendra supported the University’s 125th anniversary celebrations, sourcing event-specific ingredients and delivering bespoke touches to create experiences for students, staff and visitors. One standout success was a collaboration with Mondelez, the parent company of Cadbury, to produce 15,000 bespoke chocolate bars wrapped in custom sleeves commemorating the milestone.
Led by the Avendra International team, the project was coordinated and delivered through Avendra’s supplier network and distributed during key events including the Chancellor’s dinner, garden marquee receptions, graduation week and staff appreciation activities.
Confirms Shaun: “The chocolate bar sleeves have gone down a storm. It was a fantastic piece of work by the Avendra team and a great example of how they go above and beyond to deliver value for their clients.”
Conclusion
University of Birmingham’s partnership with Avendra International is a powerful example of how data-driven procurement, strategic supplier collaboration and shared sustainability goals can deliver lasting impact.
Avendra International has become an embedded and trusted extension of the University’s team, as Shaun concludes: “They’re not just a supplier, they’re part of the team and they’re with us all the way.”
We are here to help
Whether you're navigating complex catering operations, driving sustainability goals, or looking to unlock efficiencies through data and digital transformation, we’re here to help. Get in touch: hello_UK@Avendra.com
