Catering group CH&Co introduces pole and line-caught tuna in spring water

13th July 2010, 10:40am

The independent catering group, CH&Co, has become the first catering company in the UK to serve pole and line-caught tuna in spring water throughout its 120 restaurants nationwide.

The tuna will be served across all of its specialist catering brands including Charlton House (staff restaurants), Lusso (City-based fine dining), Ampersand (catering in iconic venues) and Chester Boyd (catering within livery halls and City venues), and is part of a series of initiatives to improve the health of its 60,000 customers nationwide by cutting levels of sugar and salt. 

Caroline Fry, managing director of CH&Co's staff catering brand, Charlton House, said: "Although Skipjack tuna in spring water is available to consumers via select retail outlets, it has never been available to contract caterers, primarily because of the size of the cans.  

"We were determined to source it for our customers because we wanted the dual benefits of sustainability and the enhanced health benefits from the lower salt levels.

"One of our key distributors, 3663, rose to the challenge and have worked closely with suppliers, MCM Select Foods Limited, who identified a sustainable source of pole and line-caught Skipjack tuna from the Indonesian Sea and procured it on our behalf. It now comes in catering-sized 1.88 kilo cans.  Putting it in spring water rather than brine reduces the salt content by six per cent.

"We specified Skipjack as there have been concerns over the sustainability of blue fin tuna.  Skipjack tuna is fished in small day-boats using traditional hand-line methods, minimising the environmental impact."

In addition, the independent caterers now serve reduced salt and sugar baked beans throughout their restaurants and by August, all of their restaurants will serve 1% fat milk.

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