Published: 27 October 2023 at 13:55
ARU upgrades equipment and changes menus to help meet environmental goals
Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) has unveiled a bright new look to its main cafes in Cambridge and Chelmsford, which are open to the public, with the changes also helping improve the university’s environmental footprint.
The remodelling began this summer with the removal of older, less efficient kitchen appliances. ARU partnered with Ramco, which specialises in refurbishing and finding new homes for old equipment.
Items such as hotplates and heat lamps are now independently controlled, to better manage energy use, and the previous open-plan layout has been changed to a kiosk design. This means the catering team can tailor the areas being used to meet demand, reducing the number of appliances powered throughout the day.
The redesigned seating areas have created inviting social spaces, with the aim of encouraging students and staff to eat in rather than takeaway, therefore reducing the amount of disposable packaging being used.
And the changes also include exciting new menus, which now feature a wider range of vegetarian options, including a £1 plant-based meal on offer each day.
A study published earlier this year indicated that cutting down our meat consumption could have the same environmental benefit as removing 8 million cars from our roads. ARU is targeting a 50% reduction in the amount of meat being sold in its catering outlets by 2026.
Susie Cullen, Head of Catering, Hospitality and Events at Anglia Ruskin University, said:
For more information about sustainability at ARU, please visit https://www.aru.ac.uk/about-us/sustainability