The partnership will serve the world-famous Great Ormond Street, Hospital – Shutterstock
Automated hot-food catering service Bon Appetit has linked with BonCulina to deliver a 24/7, ‘back to work’ food service to UK workplaces – starting with a deal to provide meals for 70 hospitals.
The estimated contract value to BonCulina is between £7million and 10 million over the contract term.
International caterer BonCulina, which recently announced its intention to expand UK operations, has been selected by Bon Appetit to be its UK food partner in a strategic partnership that will see the rebrand of Bon Appetit machines to BonCulina, as the two companies jointly bring to market BonCulina Anytime, a 24/7 automated solution for plated meals.
The partnership’s NHS hospital clients include top London hospitals Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), Guy’s & St Thomas’s Hospitals, St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, and St George’s Hospital in Tooting.
Individual meals will be available as a hot food vending solution to staff and visitors. BonCulina enables customers to choose from a larder of individual frozen meals, through its patented Torus Pak plating technology and contactless payment technology without the need for operating kitchens and chefs on site.
The BonCulina Anytime concept will be rolled out through 2020 and beyond, providing BonCulina additional operating capacity across UK food service sectors, with a focus on business and industry. The vending operation will complement BonCulina’s other delivery models such as its ‘smart restaurant’ concept.
The partners are aiming to service markets including education, healthcare, business and industry, social care and defence.
Keith Pordum, managing director of Bon Appetit, said: “The joint solution of our automated vending system and BonCulina’s meals will provide a major opportunity for workplace caterers across business and industry to offer a unique, 24/7 ‘back to work’ catering solution.”
Chris O’Neil, BonCulina UK sales and operations director, added: “This is especially important for businesses who are struggling with how to safely and cost-effectively reopen their in-house catering operations. Bon Appetit’s award-winning vending solution is the perfect complement to our business and supports our ambitions to expand our sector share within the UK.”
The 70 current NHS clients also include:
- Stoke Mandeville Hospital
- Great Western Hospital, Swindon
- RVI, Newcastle upon Tyne
- John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford
- Royal Blackburn Hospital
- Stepping Hill Hospital, Stockport
- Eastbourne Hospital
- Ormskirk Hospital
- Southport Hospital
Image credit | Shutterstock