Foodservice Cateys 2016: Innovation Award

In eight weeks, ISS launched the website www.better-food.co.uk. It also created the #BetterWorld campaign with the aim of educating people on food waste and sustainability, formed taste panels and designed a loyalty scheme. As a result the company has seen a 46% increase in sales against targeted budgets, 66% of customers at 1 More London Place and 75% at 25 Churchill Place (Canary Wharf) are dining within the building in the day, and the Skyscape venue is experiencing 94% occupancy across the day.

Around 12,629 people have registered on the microsite in the past 11 months, increasing by an average of 1% every week, with an average of 1,394 views per day. Of the feedback, 84% has been positive and just 13% of the building populations bring in their own hot drinks, while almost 300kg of food has been donated to the homeless charity Crisis in eight months. In addition, 127 people have signed up to the taste panels to participate in a monthly session with a restaurant manager and head chef. Following this panel feedback, ISS changed its coffee partner.

#BetterFood allows customers to engage with ISS on a greater level and enables ISS to interact with end users, which opens the channels for a consumer-led marketing approach, directly competing with high street food retailers. EY employees are encouraged to register on the site to get personalised promotions and information sent straight to their mailbox. On registering, they answer a 32-question survey, linked to food offer and till systems, allowing ISS to provide targeted marketing messages as well as an additional level of engagement.

Gaining access to the preferences of its customers allows ISS to run detailed analysis, which then informs menu choices and promotions. To ensure #BetterFood was a hit, ISS used recognisable elements from the EY brand, and each of the four sites has its own tailored webpage, which provides information on recipes, unusual foods and 'what's coming'.

ISS is an example of using technology and end-user engagement to evolve its food offering. Its ability to understand its customers is allowing it to make informed decisions with food offers and, as a result, it has enjoyed increased sales and loyalty across each site.

What the judges said

"A modern innovation that is a customer-led product which engages both customers and staff."

Charles Boyd, 8 Northumberland Avenue

"Creative solutions that not only engage the clients, but also register with the staff, ensuring further delivery for the overall experience."

Mark Flanagan, the Royal Household

"This nomination stands out as an industry leader in the development of a customer-led industry by the use of innovative IT."

Kate Evans, Manchester Fayre, Manchester City Council

Shortlisted

• ISS Food and Hospitality
• Manchester Fayre Manchester City Council
• The Brookwood Partnership

Past winners

• 2015 Andy Jones ISS Healthcare & the Hospital Catering Association
• 2014 The Genuine Dining Co
• 2013 Manchester Fayre Manchester City Council