Food offer in public settings : a recipe for sustainable food procurement.
Date: 2025-10-16
Institutions: Joint Research Centre
Subjects: food production, food systems, food waste, foodstuff, green public procurement, sustainable agriculture

Joint Research Centre

JRC144182

FOOD OFFER IN PUBLIC SETTINGS 
A recipe for Sustainable Food Procurement
How can sustainability become part of public food tenders? How can we balance environmental, social and economic needs? 

Who is this for?
Contracting authorities, procurement oﬃcers, policymakers (EU, national and local), 
expert groups and researchers, food industry, NGOs and civil society.

Here is our recipe for
Sustainable Public Procurement!

Then, you can 
add your...

How does it work?
The Joint Research Centre of the European Commission put together a list of 
criteria, best practices and other tools which can be incorporated into tenders by 
contracting authorities and implemented by procurers throughout Europe. 
Our goal is to help schools, hospitals and other public institutions and settings, 
such as canteens serve food that nourishes people and the planet, and 
ultimately contribute to a sustainable food system.

The main ingredients

Speciﬁc ﬂavours

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Tools

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Oﬀer healthy and sustainable 
food and meals

Source sustainably 
grown food

Prevent food waste

Keep ‘tasting’: monitoring 
is the best way to know that 
things are working! 

Market dialogue
Engage with suppliers before the 
tender is drawn up.

Food

+

Buy food grown from sustainable agricultural practices, 
such as organic farming. 

Choose animal products with high animal welfare standards.

Buy ﬁshery products from well-managed stocks.  

Buy food grown and harvested under fair labour conditions. 

For food services, in addition you might consider: 

Use water and energy eﬃciently in kitchens.

Ensure minimal, recyclable, and 
well-managed packaging.

Train your kitchen staﬀ.

Prioritise low-emission transport.

Food
services

Participate in awareness raising and education 

activities, such as on balanced diets and food waste.

Oﬀer healthy food and beverages - pay attention to salt  
  and sugar content and promote plain water. 

Active collaboration
Work with nutritional experts to promote 
healthy plant-based diets.

Vending 
machines

Use sustainable ingredients, such as from 
organic farming and fair trade.

Promote the use of reusable cups.

System approach
Strive for an integrated approach by 
ensuring proper training, stakeholder 
involvement and capacity building.

Life Cycle Thinking and Assessment
Consider impacts across the 
whole value chain.

For more detailed 
information, check the 
full report:

Finally, you can follow these...

Step-by-step instructions

1 Read the cooking book

2 Prepare your ingredients

Understand your context: target 
population, market availability, 
stakeholders, potential 
suppliers, and needs. Check 
existing best practices across 
the EU for inspiration! 

3 Follow the steps

Take the appropriate 
Tools (see on the le(cid:31)) 
and stir your ingredients 
to get the perfect mix.   

Choose the criteria suitable to your 
target population and sustainability 
objectives: food, food services, or 
vending machines. They should 
cover environmental, socio-economic 
and nutritional aspects. 

4 Wait and adjust

Change takes time: monitor the 
uptake of the sustainability criteria 
and adjust them over time. You will 
see that synergies will emerge 
between environmental, economic, 
social beneﬁts.

© European Union, 2025. All food illustrations © gazzelloni / stock.adobe.com. “Market dialogue”, “System approach”, “Keep tasting” lens, and 
“Active collaboration” icons © Toytingsvg / stock.adobe.com. “Source sustainably grown food” and “Speciﬁc ﬂavours - Food” icons 
© OLiAN_ART / stock.adobe.com. Icons in the “Step-by-step instructions” section and “Speciﬁc ﬂavours - Food services” icon © 123levit / stock.adobe.com. 

https://doi.org/10.2760/0895877https://doi.org/10.2760/0895877