February Customer Newsletter – Food

This spring sees the tender of our new combined framework, bringing Fresh Food and Food to Go options together in one “open framework”, allowing suppliers greater flexibility.

This is a fantastic opportunity for both new and existing suppliers to secure a place on a framework that will run until 2029, with the option to extend until 2031.

Please speak to your suppliers about this and reach out to us for any support required. To help your suppliers prepare, NHS Supply Chain: Food have published a pre-market engagement notice and Request for Information (RFI) on the Government’s ‘Find a Tender’ website.

See our Useful Links section to review the details.

At this time suppliers are being invited to arrange one-to-one meeting with the our Category Buyers by the end of February 2026. More details will follow on soon.

We are looking forward to seeing you this spring at the Brighton Rocks, the 2026 Hospital Caterers Association Forum at the DoubleTree Brighton Metropole on 14 and 15 April.

Our Food Account Managers will be on our Exhibition Stand Number G19, on hand to answer your queries and discuss the possibilities there are working with NHS Supply Chain: Food, including a whole host of new Savings Methodologies, and other new initiatives we have to offer. 

Greg Archer from NHS Supply Chain: Food has just stepped up into the role of Head of Procurement.

Greg brings with him a wealth of experience having previously been one of our Category Leads.

He is excited about the new role, and is already making waves.

This month we are shining a spotlight on our Vending Solutions Framework.

Speaking to our Category Development Buyer Lucy Moss we discover how NHS Supply Chain: Food’s Vending Solutions framework is transforming hospital food and drink choices.

See our Useful Links section to read more about how it could benefit you and your trust.

We are delighted to be planning 2026 Chefs and Skills Academy events, so please do register your interest with us if you wish to attend an event, or to suggest your area as a location.

We recently celebrated chefs Gill Owen and Kerrey Healey in a news article on our website, telling the story of two culinary experts who attended the events as part of their training and have subsequently progressed onto great things.

See our Useful Links section to read the full story.

Recipe ingredients	Quantity
Caster sugar	200g
Self-raising flour	410g
Ground ginger	5g
Apples (fresh of tinned)	450g
Aquafaba	160g
Rapeseed oil	210ml