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Catering

Birkbeck’s catering was brought in-house in 2023. Since then, our in-house team have made significant improvements in the sustainability of catering across the Birkbeck campus at its three main locations:

  • Malet Street Coffee Company on the ground floor of Malet Street
  • Terrace 5 Restaurant on the 5th Floor of Malet Steet
  • Birkbeck Central Cafe on the ground floor of the Student Central building

Plant-based options

  • All coffee and tea sold onsite comes with the option of switching from dairy milk to plant-based alternatives at no extra cost.
  • A 100% plant-based hospitality menu is available via room bookings. This is available for both internal and external room bookings.
  • At least one-third of each day’s menus are made up of vegan and vegetarian options.
  • A range of vegan, vegetarian, and ‘free from’ sandwiches, wraps, and warm snacks are available from Malet Street Coffee Company and Birkbeck Central Cafe daily.

Waste and recycling

  • Birkbeck’s cafes offer a ‘bring your own cup discount’ of 10% per drink, with the aim of encouraging people to bring their own cups to reduce the number of disposable cups used.
  • Reusable cups are available to purchase from Birkbeck’s cafes. These cost £7.75 and include your first drink free at the time of purchase.
  • China cups are now offered as default in the new Birkbeck Central Cafe, to reduce the number of disposable coffee cups used onsite.
  • All food waste produced in kitchens has been collected and sent to anaerobic digestion since 2023. From 2023-24 to 20245-25, our catering team reduced food waste from 18.6 tonnes to 8.6 tonnes.
  • As of April 2025, food waste caddies are available in all student lounges and kitchenettes for staff and student use with the aim of reducing the amount of food waste previously included with our general waste, and to improve our recycling rates.
  • Waste oil from the Terrace 5 restaurant is collected and recycled into biofuel via Olleco.

Sustainable procurement

  • Birkbeck procures all its food via TUCO, who provide procurement frameworks, training, and industry insights to support sustainable practices in catering: Welcome to TUCO | TUCO.
  • All our fruit and veg comes from Angry Monk. This company offers ‘wonky veg’ and surplus food to its customers, reducing the amount of produce that ends up becoming food waste.

Carbon 'foodprints'

In early 2026, Birkbeck began publishing the carbon footprint ratings of meals served in the Terrace 5 restaurant, with ratings made available to customers through the online menu. To see the carbon rating of each item, customers can scan the menu QR code as usual to see the ratings displayed alongside each day’s menu choices.

Meals are rated from A to E, with A being a lower carbon footprint and E being higher. Each rating is expressed per kilogram of the meal to ensure consistency. As a rule, items that are plant-based tend to have the lowest carbon emissions, with dishes containing red meat and dairy producing the highest amounts of emissions (although there are factors such as locality and seasonality that can affect this).

The carbon ratings are:

A: 0 to 1.75kg carbon emissions per kg of food

B: 1.75 to 3kg carbon emissions per kg of food

  • The equivalent of driving an average-sized petrol car 6.7 to 11.5 miles

C: 3 to 4.25kg carbon emissions per kg of food

  • The equivalent of driving an average-sized petrol car 11.5 to 16.3 miles

D: 4.25 to 5.5kg carbon emissions per kg of food

  • The equivalent of driving an average-sized petrol car 16.3 to 21.1 miles

E: 5.5kg or more carbon emissions per kg of food

  • The equivalent of driving an average-sized petrol car 21.1 miles or more

Over time, we will aim to roll out carbon ratings to all items sold at all Birkbeck’s food outlets.

Catering certifications

In the 2026-27 academic year, Birkbeck will participate in two certifications relating to sustainable food. These are:

  • Green Kitchen Standard: focusing on reducing the impacts of kitchen operations, such as energy, water, and waste.
  • Food For Life Served Here: focusing on the standards and quality of food served, for example by ensuring we use only free-range eggs, Marine Conservation Society approved fish, and Red Tractor meat.

Our targets

  • Participate in the Green Kitchen Standard scheme, achieving at least Bronze certification by the end of 2027
  • Participate in the Food for Life scheme, achieving at least Bronze certification by the end of 2027
  • Introduce Carbon Footprint ratings on all hot food menus in Terrace 5 by January 2026
  • Introduce Carbon Footprint ratings for all cold food and barista drinks in the cafes by January 2027
  • Reduce use of beef on Terrace 5 menus by 50% by January 2027 and a further 20% by October 2027