As pressure mounts on the food and hospitality sector to reduce environmental impact, the role of catering has never been more critical. Food sits at the intersection of sustainability, nutrition and human behaviour – and change at scale can only happen if solutions are practical, appealing and commercially viable.
Big Carbon Kick Out was created to address exactly that challenge. Rather than asking customers to change what they eat, the initiative focuses on rethinking how familiar, high-volume dishes are made – delivering meaningful carbon reduction without compromising on flavour, nutrition or experience.
We sat down with Matt Vernon, Executive Development Chef, to explore the thinking behind Big Carbon Kick Out, the data driving decisions, and why small changes applied consistently can deliver industry-level impact.
Matt, what problem was Big Carbon Kick Out designed to solve?
Matt Vernon:
We were seeing a real gap between sustainability ambition and what actually works in catering environments. There’s a lot of pressure to ‘do something green’, but often that results in niche menus or bolt-on initiatives that don’t scale.
Big Carbon Kick Out was designed to close that gap. Instead of asking customers to change their behaviour, we focused on changing the food itself – improving the dishes people already choose every day. That’s where scale, and therefore real impact, comes from.
Why was it important to focus on everyday dishes?
Matt Vernon:
Familiarity drives uptake. If you want carbon reduction to work at scale, you have to work with human behaviour, not against it.
When people recognise a dish and trust it, they order it without hesitation. That gives us an opportunity to reduce carbon quietly and consistently, without turning sustainability into a barrier or a ‘worthy choice’. The customer just experiences good food – and the impact happens in the background.
How did nutrition and data shape the development process?
Matt Vernon:
Nutrition was central from day one. We worked very closely with our nutrition team to ensure that any carbon reduction didn’t come at the expense of nutritional balance.
A lot of carbon impact sits in meat and dairy, so we focused on where those ingredients could be reduced or rebalanced responsibly. That doesn’t mean removing protein or satisfaction – it means rebuilding dishes intelligently using pulses, vegetables and technique to deliver the same experience in a lower-carbon way.
Can you share a clear example of the impact this approach delivers?
Matt Vernon:
Lasagna is one of the best examples because it’s a classic, high-volume dish. By reducing animal products by around 30% in our lasagna recipe, we saved approximately 162 kilos of carbon emissions per 100 portions.
To put that into perspective, that’s the equivalent of driving a petrol-powered car from London to Milan – from a single recipe change. When you apply that level of thinking across multiple everyday dishes, the cumulative impact becomes genuinely significant.
What has Big Carbon Kick Out achieved so far at scale?
Matt Vernon:
So far, we’ve served more than 3,000 Big Carbon Kick Out dishes, resulting in a saving of around 3,724 kg of CO₂e. That’s roughly the equivalent of driving over 9,500 miles in a petrol-powered car.
What’s important is that this impact hasn’t come from one big intervention. It’s come from lots of small, smart changes applied consistently. That’s the model we believe in – because it’s sustainable operationally as well as environmentally.
How are chefs responding to this way of working?
Matt Vernon:
Really positively. Big Carbon Kick Out respects the craft of cooking. It challenges chefs to think differently about ingredients and technique, but it doesn’t limit creativity or strip dishes back.
Once chefs see that customers still enjoy the food – sometimes even more – confidence grows quickly. It becomes something they feel proud of, not something they feel restricted by.
And how does this land with customers?
Matt Vernon:
That’s the real test – and it’s where the initiative has been most successful. Customers aren’t being asked to make a conscious ‘green choice’. They’re simply enjoying food that tastes great and feels familiar.
Sustainability becomes effortless. There’s no compromise, no lecture, no sense of loss – just better food with a lower footprint.
Looking ahead, what’s the next evolution of Big Carbon Kick Out?
Matt Vernon:
We’re continuing to expand the programme through new recipes, ingredient innovation and supplier partnerships. In some cases, we’re exploring ways to reduce animal products by up to 50%, while still delivering flavour, nutrition and satisfaction.
The ambition is for Big Carbon Kick Out to become a normal way of thinking about food – not a campaign, but a long-term framework for responsible, flavour-first catering.
From Initiative to Mindset
Big Carbon Kick Out demonstrates that carbon reduction in catering doesn’t have to be disruptive or restrictive. By focusing on everyday dishes, grounding decisions in nutrition and data, and empowering chefs to innovate within familiar formats, Angel Hill Food Co. is showing how sustainability can be embedded into daily operations – quietly, confidently and at scale.
For the wider catering industry, the message is clear: real change doesn’t always come from radical reinvention. Often, it comes from doing the basics better, more thoughtfully, and more consistently.
And when that happens, the impact speaks for itself.
