Food Standards
Guiding our Actions Every Day
Our Food Standards guide the everyday actions in our kitchens and cafés, and empower our associates to achieve our Dream and our purpose of Food Service for a Sustainable Future.
We aim to serve food that is alive with flavor and nutrition:
- Menus are written based on seasonality and fresh local ingredients.
- Plants are abundant, center of the plate, and the preferred source of protein. Lean animal proteins play a supporting role. We do this for the well-being of our guests and the environment.
- Flavors are developed through skilled, healthful cooking techniques, with fresh herbs and authentic spices, not through excess use of fat, sugar, and salt.
- Olive and canola oils are used in our kitchens. Specialty oils such as sesame or chili – but not peanut – may be used to ensure authentic flavors.
- Menus are planned to be inclusive — providing guests plentiful options to meet a variety of personal, religious, and cultural diets, as well as food allergy and intolerance needs.
- Reasonable portions and nourishing meals support the well-being of our guests.
- Foods that support good health are mainstream offerings throughout our cafés.
Prepared from scratch
- Foods are cooked in small batches to ensure freshness and reduce waste.
- Stocks, soups, salsas, sauces, and salad dressings are made from scratch.
- Turkey and beef are roasted in-house for deli meat.
- Cookies and muffins are baked fresh daily. Breads are baked fresh daily where possible.
Produced in a socially responsible manner
- Fruits and vegetables are grown locally, as a priority, using sustainable practices.
- Pork comes from hog farms that do not confine sows to gestation crates.
- Turkey and chicken are raised without the routine, non-therapeutic use of antibiotics.
- Ground beef is from cattle fed a vegetarian diet, never given antibiotics or hormones, and certified by a credible animal welfare organization.
- Milk and yogurt are sourced from dairies not using artificial hormones.
- Eggs are produced cage-free and certified by a credible animal welfare organization.
- All seafood purchases, wild and farmed, follow the sustainability guidelines of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program. Seafood is purchased fresh when available locally or frozen at the source to ensure quality.
- Continuous reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is a key principle of daily menu writing and sourcing decisions in alignment with our companywide Low Carbon Lifestyle.
Together, we take these everyday actions to create exceptional food that meets the diverse needs of our clients and guests while supporting a food system that respects people and animals, nourishes communities, and replenishes shared natural resources for future generations.