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About NTU food

Find out about food services at Nottingham Trent University.

Sustainable food and drink

We're dedicated to promoting and embedding a sustainable food culture at NTU and beyond. Our Catering team works in partnership with our Environment and Procurement teams. Together they ensure we consider ethical, social and environmental factors. This informs the decisions we make about the products and services we provide.

We continually strive to be more environmentally friendly. Last year, we took 115 tonnes of waste destined for landfill and sent it to a biodigester to create green energy.

Find out about sustainability at NTU and read our sustainable food and drink policy.

You can also read about sustainable food at NTU to discover how we meet our objectives.

Food wastage

We have a number of procedures in place to both minimise food waste and ethically repurpose and donate any surplus. These include:

  • Monitoring plate waste in our refectories to ensure our portion sizes are not too large.
  • Strict batch cooking processes within our kitchens and cafes to avoid over production.
  • Utilising as much of an ingredient as possible – for example stalks from vegetables, tomato/pepper tops for soups/sauces.
  • Any surplus sandwiches, paninis, fruit pots are donated to local charities each week (YMCA, Mathew 25:40, Tracey’s Street Kitchen). Any subsequent food waste that cannot be donated goes to anaerobic digestion at our local waste management provider's site and is used for energy production.
  • Unsold sandwiches are left at reception for students to take at the end of the day.
  • Taking part in an audit every two months called Your Business is Food which helps us monitor food waste and investigate ways to reduce this further.
  • As we operate as a multi-outlet operation, we tend to move stock around throughout the day and any unsold products are relocated to later opening cafés when a particular unit closes.
  • We investigated taking part in the 'Too Good to Go' scheme, however this lends itself more easily to smaller, public establishments and logistically it is very difficult for us to get involved due to the public not being able to access our outlets.

Our food

Our Refectories have a 'Three Star Food Made Good' accreditation by the Restaurant Association. They serve:

  • homemade dishes prepared daily
  • nutritionally balanced healthy meals
  • MSC-certified fish
  • Red Tractor-certified meat
  • locally grown vegetables
  • vegetables and potatoes that have no added salt.

We offer a range of dishes for different dietary requirements. These include vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and halal. Look out for the symbols on our menus.

For advice on allergens, please speak to a member of our team. They'll be happy to advise you. You can also email us.

Smartpoints loyalty scheme

Earn points at NTU Food outlets when you pay with your Smartcard balance or bank card. For every pound spent at an NTU Food outlet, you'll receive two points. Redeem points by scanning your Smartcard at the till. One point equals one penny.

To start earning points, activate your Smartcard for cashless payment. You can do it at Student Services on our City or Clifton campuses, or at Brackenhurst Library.

See our Smartpoints loyalty scheme terms and conditions.

Feedback and get in touch

Our customer service standards and customer service charter highlight our promise to you.

If your experience with NTU Food does not meet your expectations, please get in touch. You can also see our complaints procedure.

Customer satisfaction survey

We always like to hear from our customers and we value your feedback on our catering facilities. Visit any of our catering outlets and complete one of our short survey forms to let us know how we are doing. Enter your name and email address for a chance to win £20 in NTU Food vouchers. For more information, see our terms and conditions.

View our current customer satisfaction scores

Contact us

You can email NTU Food with any comments, suggestions or ways we can improve. You can also contact our managers below.

  • Last updated: 14/12/2023