How Do We Source Locally and Sustainably for Boosters Café?
- 30th Aug 2023
- Author: Elliott Langley - Marketing Administrator
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![Space Crew team member happily serving a family in Boosters cafe]()
National Space Centre What is the best part of any day out? Food of course!
A late-breakfast, elevenses, lunch, mid-afternoon snacks, a second lunch, a feast at midnight, a cheeky coffee and a cake, a naughty scone… you get the picture. We are big fans of getting a bite to eat at the National Space Centre, which is why we take such pride in our Boosters café. But how do we make sure the services we provide in our café are not causing harm to our home planet?
If you have ever walked through the front door of the National Space Centre, you will have seen our Boosters café. We have seen our little café undergo a few big changes since 2001, and the selection of food and drink available has more than doubled in size. We know that no day out is complete without taking a break to have a decent lunch and refuel between activities.
But we also know that sustainability is an issue very close to people’s hearts, and that many people are considering the impact that their purchases are having. The good news is that we have already made some big changes to our café, and we think it’s important to talk about them. After all, we want our visitors to feel comfortable when making their purchases here.
Local Suppliers
We love Leicester and know how much incredible food is produced here. We want to support local businesses and reduce the distance that deliveries have to travel, so where possible we have switched to sourcing all of the ingredients for the food we serve in Boosters from local independent suppliers.
Vegan Options
Over the last few years, we have seen the demand for the café to serve more vegan and vegetarian options grow a lot – from both visitors and our own staff - including yours truly!
Long gone are the days of just one or two vegan options; now our café is stocked with a falafel and coleslaw wrap, vegan sausage rolls, a vegan hot dog, vegan chilli and nachos, a hummus and beetroot sandwich, vegan-friendly cakes and brownies, dairy-free snacks, and of course our homemade soups. We are always looking to add new options to our menu as well, so if you have suggestions then please shoot us an email!
Freshly Made Food
We have been lucky to employ some truly talented chefs and catering staff over the years, taking care of our visitors throughout daytime visits, special events, fine dining occasions, exclusive hires and of course keeping the staff fed. Our food is prepared on site by our talented team, including our freshly made soup of the days, in order to reduce on deliveries and packaging.
Vegware
We are all trying to reduce the amount of single-use plastic we are getting through, especially when it comes to food packaging. We have gradually switched all of our food packaging, cups and cutlery to sustainable options provided by two companies who both provide sustainable food and drink packaging that are made from alternatives to plastic: Planglow and Vegware.
These products use renewable, lower carbon, recycled or reclaimed materials, which means that they are compostable! We also know that they do resemble plastic, so are working on putting up more signage around the café to tell visitors that the cutlery and food packaging is all made from plastic-alternatives and that they can enjoy their food and drinks guilt-free.
Wastecycle
We have made great strides towards removing all single-use plastic from our café, but we still have a little way to go. The good news is that for the remaining items that do contain plastic (such as fizzy drink bottles), all of the items placed into any bin in the Centre are taken to a sorting centre just a mile from us and are sorted for recycling by a company called Wastecycle. Here they sort all our waste and have removed 94% of all our waste from landfill sites.
Of course, there are always new ways that we can Look After Our Environment and take care of our Home Planet, and we continue on our mission to be carbon neutral by 2030. Refuelling your engines and taking a break underneath our two rockets will always be a staple of any visit to the National Space Centre.
The next time you sneak in a sandwich or sip a coffee in the Centre, you can do so guilt-free and in the knowledge that you are supporting our friends in Leicester and of course our little blue planet.
